Connect with us

Published

on

Donald Trump is facing four criminal charges relating to attempts to overturn the 2020 election result as prosecutors try to tie him to the January 6 storming of the US Capitol building by his supporters.

The 45-page court document focuses on alleged schemes by the former Republican president and his allies to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in the White House despite his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has maintained the result of the November 2020 election was incorrect, with many of his supporters and confidants also expressing doubts about the vote.

But special counsel Jack Smith has alleged Trump’s lies “fuelled” the January 6 insurrection in Washington DC in 2021 where rioters attacked the Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from certifying the election result.

And prosecutors also claim he “exploited” the assault by refusing his advisers’ suggestion to send a message directing the rioters to leave the building, after a rally and fiery speech by him earlier that day.

New Trump charges – live updates

Donald Trump holding a rally in Washington D.C. on January 6 ahead of rioting
Image:
Donald Trump holds a rally on January 6 2021 before the US Capitol riot

Trump has been summoned to appear before a federal magistrate judge in the city on Thursday. It is the third time in four months he has been criminally charged even as he campaigns to regain the presidency next year.

The latest indictment alleges he conspired to prevent politicians from certifying Mr Biden’s victory and to deprive voters of their right to a fair election.

Five people died during or after the attack, including four protesters and one police officer, and about 140 officers suffered injuries, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Trump faces four charges:

• Conspiracy to defraud the US

• Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding

• Obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct, an official proceeding

• Conspiracy against rights.

Prosecutors have stated Trump lost the 2020 election but he was “determined to remain in power” and for two months he “spread lies” that there had been fraud and that he had won.

“These claims were false and the defendant knew they were false… but the defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway”, said the indictment.

Support of President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Pic. AP
Image:
Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol following a rally on January 6 2021. Pic. AP

The United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. was breached by thousands of protesters during a "Stop The Steal" rally in support of President Donald Trump during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The demonstrators were protesting the results of the 2020 United States presidential election where Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden.

Prosecutors claimed that in the weeks before the January 6 vote, Trump falsely told his then vice-president Mike Pence at least three times he had the authority to reject the electoral results, even though Mr Pence pushed back every time.

Trump also allegedly organised a plan to get fake electors in seven states, all of which he lost, to submit their votes to be counted and certified as official by Congress on January 6.

The DoJ alleges Trump “pursued unlawful means” of “discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results” through three criminal conspiracies.

It said one conspiracy was to defraud the US by using dishonesty, fraud and deceit to “obstruct the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the election”.

The DoJ said the second conspiracy was to impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified.

The third alleged conspiracy was against the right to vote and to have the vote counted, the department said. The indictment also alleged Trump “attempted to, and did, corruptly obstruct and impede the certification of the electoral vote”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

How chaos unfolded at the US Capitol

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Politicians evacuate House chamber

Earlier, Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform: “I hear that deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the presidential election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favourite president, me, at 5pm.

“Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial misconduct!”

Mr Trump’s latest charges add to his ongoing legal woes, with recent court appearances in Miami and New York.

In Miami, Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to allegations that he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials, trying to recover them.

He also pleaded not guilty in New York to 37 charges, relating to falsifying business records “in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election”.

Mr Trump is also counter-suing E. Jean Carroll, who alleged he raped her in the 1990s – he was found guilty of sexually assaulting and defaming her, but not raping Ms Carroll in a civil case.

Continue Reading

US

Donald Trump’s tariffs will have consequences for globalisation, the US economy and geopolitics

Published

on

By

Donald Trump's tariffs will have consequences for globalisation, the US economy and geopolitics

For decades, trade and trade policy has been an economic and political backwater – decidedly boring, seemingly uncontroversial. 

Trade was mostly free and getting freer, tariffs were getting lower and lower, and the world was becoming more, not less, globalised.

But alongside those long-term trends, there were some serious consequences.

Trump latest: US president announces sweeping global trade tariffs

Mature, developed economies like the UK and US became ever more reliant on cheap imports from China and, in the process, saw their manufacturing sectors shrink.

Large swathes of the rust belt in the US – and much of the Midlands and North of England – were hollowed out.

And to some extent that’s where the story of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” really began – with the notion that free trade and globalisation had a darker side, a side he wants to remedy via tariffs.

More on Donald Trump

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Trump’s tariffs: Ed Conway analysis

He imposed a set of tariffs in his first term, some on China, some on specific materials like steel and aluminium. But the height and the breadth of those tariffs were as nothing compared with the ones we have just heard about.

Not since the 1930s has the US so radically increased the level of tariffs on all nations across the world. Back then, those tariffs exacerbated the Great Depression.

It’s anyone’s guess as to what the consequences of these ones will be. But there will be consequences.

Consequences for the nature of globalisation, consequences for the US economy (tariffs are exceptionally inflationary), consequences for geopolitics.

President Trump with his list of tariffs for various countries. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Imports from the UK will face a 10% tariff, while EU goods will see 20% rates. Pic: Reuters

And to some extent, merely knowing that little bit more about the White House’s plans will deliver a bit of relief to financial markets, which have fretted for months about the imposition of tariffs. That uncertainty recently reached unprecedented levels.

But don’t for a moment assume that this saga is over. Nothing of the sort. In the coming days, we will learn more – more about the nuts and bolts of these policies, more about the retaliatory measures coming from other countries.

We will, possibly, get more of a sense about whether some countries – including the UK – will enjoy reprieves from the tariffs.

To paraphrase Churchill, this isn’t the end of the trade war, or even the beginning of the end – perhaps just the end of the beginning.

Continue Reading

US

‘A genius actor’, ‘firecracker’, and ‘my friend’: Tributes paid to Top Gun star Val Kilmer

Published

on

By

'A genius actor', 'firecracker', and 'my friend': Tributes paid to Top Gun star Val Kilmer

Actors, directors and celebrity friends have paid tribute to Val Kilmer, after he died aged 65.

The California-born star of Top Gun, Batman and Heat died of pneumonia on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told the Associated Press.

She said Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.

Tributes flooded in after reports broke of the actor’s death, with No Country For Old Men star Josh Brolin among the first to share their memories.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Watch: Val Kilmer in his most iconic roles

He wrote on Instagram: “See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those.

“I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.”

Kyle Maclachlan, who co-starred with Kilmer in the 1991 biopic The Doors, wrote on social media: “You’ll always be my Jim. See you on the other side my friend.”

More from Ents & Arts

Michael Mann, who directed Kilmer in 1995’s Heat, also paid tribute in a statement, saying: “I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character.

“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”

preview image

Heat co-star Danny Trejo also called Kilmer “a great actor, a wonderful person, and a dear friend of mine” on Instagram.

Cher, who once dated the actor, said on X that “U Were Funny, crazy, pain in the ass, GREAT FRIEND… BRILLIANT as Mark Twain, BRAVE here during ur sickness”.

Lifelong friend and director of Twixt, Francis Ford Coppola said: “Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life.

“He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know – I will always remember him.”

The Top Gun account on X also said it was remembering Kilmer, who starred as Iceman in both the 1986 original and 2022 sequel, and “whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations”.

Nicolas Cage added that “I always liked Val and am sad to hear of his passing”.

“I thought he was a genius actor,” he said. “I enjoyed working with him on Bad Lieutenant and I admired his commitment and sense of humor.

“He should have won the Oscar for The Doors.”

Continue Reading

US

Elon Musk calls reports he will step back from government role ‘fake news’

Published

on

By

Elon Musk calls reports he will step back from government role 'fake news'

Elon Musk has called reports that he will leave his government role in the coming months “fake news”.

A senior White House official previously told NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, that Donald Trump had discussed the Tesla and X boss transitioning back to the private sector at a cabinet meeting last month.

Donald Trump walks with Elon Musk before attending a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024 . Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Image:
The Tesla boss has headed DOGE since 20 January. File pic: Reuters

After reports emerged of the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was “garbage” and added: “Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”

Mr Musk added in response on X: “Yeah, fake news.”

NBC News reported that the official said Mr Musk would leave at the end of his 130 days as a special government employee.

That would be 30 May, but it is unclear if the billionaire businessman will indeed leave on that date.

Previously, the White House said that as a temporary organisation, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be terminated on 4 July next year – the 250th anniversary of the US.

More on Donald Trump

👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈

It comes days after Mr Musk said some members of his DOGE team were getting death threats on a daily basis.

Mr Musk had drawn criticism over his efforts to downsize the US federal government.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Elon Musk has got to go’

In just weeks, entire agencies were dismantled, and tens of thousands of workers from the 2.3 million federal workforce have been fired or have agreed to leave their jobs.

A number of lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts over cuts recommended by DOGE.

Continue Reading

Trending