Trump news – live: DoJ believe Trump may have more documents, as Proud Boys leader pleads guilty

A Proud Boys leader has pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Jeremy Bertino is the first member of the far-right group to make a guilty plea on those charges. He also accepted charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person before US District Court Judge Tim Kelly on Thursday.

Meanwhile, federal agents believe they have sufficient evidence to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes and making false statements to purchase a firearm, The Washington Post reports.

The Post reported on Thursday that investigators probing the activities of Joe Biden’s son believe they had gathered enough evidence some several months ago, and that the decision now rests in the hands of local US attorneys.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska one of seven Republican Senators who voted to convict Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot, announced he would resign from the Senate to serve as president of the University of Florida.

The University of Florida, which is based in Gainesville, announced him as the sole finalist for its position as president.

Mr Trump gloated about it on Truth Social, writing, “Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself. Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning. If he knew he was going to resign so early in his term, why did he run in the first place? But it’s still great news! The University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President….”

Key points

• Ben Sasse, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, to resign from the Senate

• Haberman believes Trump is going to become more ‘overt’ in racist attacks

• Trump claims he would beat a Washington-Lincoln ticket by 40 points

• What has Hunter Biden been accused of, and what comes next?

• Trump takes credit for DeSantis winning governor election in new audio

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

01:32 , Graeme Massie

Donald Trump may still be hiding more top-secret documents he took from the White House at the end of his presidency Department of Justice officials believe, a report claims.

A top official, Jay I Bratt, informed the former president’s lawyers that the government believes he has not yet returned all the material in his possession, two people briefed on the matter told The New York Times.

Trump may still be hiding more secret documents, DoJ official believes: report

Inside the nastiest and potentially most important Senate race in the country

01:01 , Graeme Massie

A race that could determine control of the Senate, and the direction of the country for at least the next four years, was always going to be fiercely fought. But even in the cut-and-thrust of Trump-era politics, few could have predicted just how bitter the campaign for Pennsylvania’s seat would become.

With one month to go until election day, the race between Democrat John Fetterman and his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz has the dubious honour of becoming the nastiest in the country, and there is little sign that either side is slowing down.

Eric Garcia has the story.

John Fetterman and Dr Oz: Inside the nastiest Senate race in the country

What has Hunter Biden been accused of, and what comes next?

Friday 7 October 2022 00:25 , Graeme Massie

The Washington Post reported stunning news on Thursday — federal investigators believe they have a chargeable case against Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.

Even more interestingly, they have felt that the case is sufficient to go to court for the past several months, according to the Post.

John Bowden has the story.

What has Hunter Biden been accused of, and what comes next?

Trump mocks Ben Sasse and brands him ‘lightweight'

Thursday 6 October 2022 23:50 , Graeme Massie

The former president attacked the US Senator from Nebraska, who is one of just seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump over the January 6 insurrection.

“Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself. Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If he knew he was going to resign so early in his term, why did he run in the first place? But it’s still great news! The University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President….”

Ben Sasse, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, to resign from the Senate

Thursday 6 October 2022 23:32 , Graeme Massie

Nebraska lawmaker was simultaneously a critic of the former president but also someone who frequently voted with him.

Eric Garcia has the story for The Independent.

Ben Sasse, one of seven Republican Senators who voted to convict Trump, to resign

Ben Sasse to announce he is leaving US Senate, says report

Thursday 6 October 2022 21:08 , Graeme Massie

Ben Sasse, one of only seven GOP US Senators to vote to convict Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot, is set to announce he is standing down, according to a report.

Mr Sasse, a Senator from Nebraska, is expected to take up a job at the University of Florida, according to Politico.

He has been a regular critic of the former president during his two terms on the job.

Geraldo Rivera warns DeSantis will ‘feel the wrath of Latino voters’

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Fox News political commentator Geraldo Rivera has sent a scathing message to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after his political stunt involving Venezuelan migrants.

Rivera took to Twitter and predicted that Mr DeSantis will face serious consequences at the ballot box for sending two flights of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last month.

“Governor DeSantis will soon feel the wrath of Florida’s Latino voters outraged by his toying with the lives of those Venezuelan refugees he exploited,” Rivera tweeted in reference to the more than 40 migrants who were told they were being sent to Boston to obtain work papers through a programme sponsored by the Florida government.

Andrea Blanco has more here:

Geraldo Rivera warns DeSantis will ‘soon feel the wrath of Latino voters’

Elon Musk doubles down on ‘pro-Putin’ tweets after challenge from Lindsey Graham

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Elon Musk has doubled down on his “pro-Putin” tweets after US senator Lindsey Graham called the Tesla billionaire’s comments on the Ukraine invasion “dumb” on Twitter.

“With all due respect to Elon Musk – and I do respect him – I would suggest he needs to understand the facts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Mr Graham said in a Twitter thread on Wednesday.

“Suggesting we end the Russian invasion by simply giving Russia parts of Ukraine – after all the suffering – is dumb. It is also an affront to the bravery of the Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland,” he added.

Keep reading the full report from Maroosha Muzaffar:

Elon Musk doubles down on ‘pro-Putin’ tweets after challenge from Lindsey Graham

Herschel Walker’s son strikes out at father on Twitter in wake of latest scandal

Thursday 6 October 2022 15:00 , Johanna Chisholm

Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s son, Christian Walker, who has become ensnared in his father’s latest scandal after it was reported by The Daily Beast that the Republican nominee allegedly paid for the abortion of a woman he later reportedly had a child with, had some choice words for the former football player.

“Wear a condom, damn,” tweeted the 23-year-old social media influencer, who has been taking to Twitter in recent days to air his grievances about his father and the scandals that have plagued his campaign in recent weeks.

Mr Walker, who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, has run on a platform of family first values and has repeatedly voiced his support for a pro-life agenda.

Liz Cheney says she’d be voting Democrat if she lived in Arizona

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:40 , Johanna Chisholm

As GOP nominees in Arizona for secretary of state and governor have put denying the results of the 2020 election at the front of their campaigns, Republican Liz Cheney has said that it would motivate her - who has voted Republican “for almost 40 years” - to vote for a Democrat if she lived in the southwest state.

“I don’t know that I have ever voted for a Democrat,” said Ms Cheney while speaking Wednesday night at an event at Arizona State University. “But if I lived in Arizona now, I absolutely would ... for governor and for secretary of state.”

Ms Cheney urged voters to steer clear of placing their ballot with Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, both of whom have closely aligned their campaigns and platforms with Donald Trump, who has graced each of them with his endorsement.

“If you care about democracy and you care about the survival of our republic, then you need to understand — we all have to understand — that we cannot give people power who have told us that they will not honour elections,” said Rep Cheney.

Haberman believes Trump is going to become more ‘overt’ in racist attacks

Thursday 6 October 2022 14:04 , Johanna Chisholm

While promoting her newly released book about Donald Trump on CNN, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman confided in Don Lemon that she believes the former president’s racist attacks are likely only going to get worse.

Ms Haberman made her remarks while appearing on Don Lemon Tonight, after the CNN host brought up the recent incident in which the ex-president made a racist comment about his former cabinet member, cabinet official Elaine Chao, where he called her Coco Chow.

“Are we going to see more of this, you think?” Mr Lemon asked the veteran White House reporter, to which she responded, “I think so”.

“He’s leaning into it pretty aggressively. He has been much more since he left office. He was doing things like this in office as we know, but he seems to be leaning into racist statements,” said Ms Haberman.

Mr Lemon pointed out that during Trump’s tenure in the White House, he had come out and called the then-president racist, a comment that he was widely criticised for, as he pointed out on Wednesday night. He then put the question to Ms Haberman, pointedly asking: “Do you believe that he’s racist?”

In response, Ms Haberman said everything except outright agreeing with the CNN host.

“I’ve gotten this question a lot in the last couple of days. I think that he has made a series of racist statements over a very long period of time, and he has incorporated racial paranoia into his public persona and his political persona for decades now,” she said, adding that she’d uncovered certain “pieces of information” in her reporting of Confidence Man. “His backers will say, no, no, no. He’s being misunderstood. How many times is someone misunderstanding him?”

Donald Trump Jr stumps for JD Vance in Ohio

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Republican Senate candidate JD Vance got a leg up from his MAGA-endorsed base on Wednesday night after Donald Trump Jr parachuted into Ohio for an event to prop up the Hillbilly Elegy author.

“(Vance is) someone that’s outside of that establishment mold of Washington, DC,” Trump Jr said at an event in Columbus. “I think we’ve seen that you can get results from that. You’re not going to get results from the establishment − on either side, frankly.”

Mr Vance’s Democratic rival in the race, Rep Tim Ryan, took to Twitter to air his grievances about the former president’s son stumping in the state for the Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, calling him a “right-wing mouthpiece”.

“Right-wing mouthpiece Donald Trump Jr. is in Ohio TODAY campaigning with JD Vance. Republicans are so terrified of losing here, they’re pulling out all the stops in a last-ditch effort to defeat us. Bring it on, Don. Will you help us raise $50K toward our Rapid Response Fund,” tweeted Mr Ryan.

Pennsylvania congresswoman compares Oz to Trump: ‘He’s a fraud'

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania compared the state’s Republican Senate candidate - Dr Mehmet Oz - to Donald Trump, claiming that the two are one of the same in that they both are “frauds”.

“Dr Oz is very much Trump. He’s a snake oil salesman and made money selling snake oil and diet supplements,” said the Democratic lawmaker while appearing on MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show. “He’s not from Pennsylvania. He’s a fraud,” she added, while highlighting her fellow Democrat and challenger to Dr Oz, John Fetterman.

The race between the two Senate candidates, which for most of the summer seemed like an easy win for Mr Fetterman, has recently tightened. The RealClearPolitics average of polls shows the Democrat with only a 4.3 per cent lead against Dr Oz within the statistical margin of error in two recent polls, while the Cook Political Report recently changed its rating from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

Rep Dean, however, believes that will all change in the next few weeks.

“I think that will widen and to the favour of John Fetterman winning,” the Democratic congresswoman said on Mehdi Hasan’s show on Wednesday night.

ICYMI: Journalist Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for ‘revenge’ on Biden

Thursday 6 October 2022 13:00 , John Bowden

Moving on from his searing hatred for Hillary Clinton that was evident during the 2016 election, New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman says the former president is now motivated to make a White House bid in 2024 due to a desire for revenge against the man who beat him: Joe Biden.

According to Haberman, Donald Trump “misses the pomp and legal protections that the presidency afforded him”, and also “wants revenge on Biden, and on the media, and on a whole range of people” for his embarrassing 2020 defeat.

The ex-president continues to publicly hint at all of his rally appearances that he does indeed plan to run again. Few Republicans, with the notable exception of Florida’s Ron DeSantis, poll within the double digits against him in hypothetical polled matchups of the 2024 GOP primary.

Read more in The Independent:

Maggie Haberman says Trump is driven to run again by desire for revenge on Biden

Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Just as Donald Trump is dealing with the fallout from the shocking FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago, a new investigation’s very similar consequences appear to be looming on the horizon.

A court order from the judge overseeing the grand jury investigation in Fulton County into the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election revealed this week that the prosecutor leading the case is now seeking search warrants.

It isn’t yet clear who the targets of those potential warrants could be, but it is known that a number of members of Donald Trump’s legal team including Rudy Giuliani are targets of the overall investigation.

Read more in The Independent:

Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants

Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes says app greatest achievement of Trump’s career

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Ex-congressman Devin Nunes said during an interview that Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Trump Media and Technology Group that was founded by Donald Trump after he was banned from Twitter following the Capitol riot, that it is perhaps the shining achievement of the former president’s entire career.

“Can you imagine where we would be had Trump not went out and created Truth Social?” said Mr Nunes, who left his position from the House of Representatives to become the app’s chief executive officer. “We would be in a very, very dark spot.”

The interview with Mr Nunes on Wednesday night arrived shortly after shares of Digital World Acquisition Cord, the special-purpose acquisition company seeking to take Mr Trump’s media company public, dropped after Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he would reverse course and continue to go through with his deal to buy Twitter.

Shares of the SPAC fell more than 5 per cent after the Tesla CEO’s news was announced to $17.10. “Maybe the most important creation in Donald Trump’s whole career will be the creation of Truth Social,” the ex-congressman added.

GOP plans to sue Google because its emails keep going into people's spam folders

Thursday 6 October 2022 12:00 , Johanna Chisholm

Fundraising and get out out the vote emails from GOP officials are allegedly being redirected to people’s spam folders on Google, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel claims.

Because of this, she told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, the RNC is planning on pursuing legal action against the tech giant, telling her on Wednesday morning that it should be viewed as a warning sign to Big Tech to keep its “thumb off the scale in our elections and our democracy.”

“We are very seriously looking at how we can sue Google,” said the RNC chair, noting that the California-based company controls 53 per cent of the emails in the US.

“We know this: For the past ten months, the last four days of every month, all of our emails go undeliverable, 0 per cent deliverability,” she claimed. “This is outrageous. It is voter suppression by Big Tech, and we have to find a way to hold them accountable,” she added before announcing that the “RNC is looking to sue” and that they hoped to have an announcement on that “soon”.

Trump calls for the death penalty in human traffickers, drug dealers

Thursday 6 October 2022 11:35 , Johanna Chisholm

Among the more wild suggestions made during a nearly hourlong keynote speech on Wednesday night in front of a roomful of conservative Latino voters in Miami, Donald Trump suggested that the crime rate in the country would drop significantly if only the US implemented a death penalty for offences like drug dealing and human trafficking.

“I’m calling for the death penalty for drug dealer and human traffickers and you’re gonna stop crime in this country,” he said. “Crime will go down, in my opinion, over 80 per cent in one day if it’s a meaningful death penalty,” he added, without specifying how a “meaningful death penalty” would differ from other death penalties.

Dr Oz refuses to comment on report his research killed more than 300 dogs as Fetterman calls him ‘puppy killer’

Thursday 6 October 2022 11:15 , Johanna Chisholm

Trump-backed Dr Mehmet Oz has clearly been taken off guard by a new report claiming that his past medical research was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of animals, including dogs.

Earlier this week, Jezebel reviewed 75 studies published in academic journals involving Dr Oz's teams at Columbia University and found Dr Oz's team had conducted experiments on at least 1,027 live animals. Of these experiments, 34 resulted in the deaths of at least 329 dogs, two killed 31 pigs, and 38 killed 661 rabbits and rodents.

The Pennsylvania Senate candidate, fighting to keep a retiring GOP senator’s seat red, has yet to address the report as his Democratic challenger has hammered him on the issue for days.

Read more from Greg Graziosi:

Dr Oz refuses to comment on report his research killed more than 300 dogs

Trump calls for a return to paper ballots, blasts the US voting system as a ‘laughing stock’ of the world

Thursday 6 October 2022 11:02 , Johanna Chisholm

Former President Donald Trump gave a wide-ranging interview on the right-wing media network Real America’s Voice where he eviscerated the US for a voting system that he characterised as the “laughing stock” of the world and called for a return to paper ballots.

“I call them the fake vote store. That’s the mail in ballots. We shouldn’t have mail in ballots, unless somebody’s very, very sick or it’s military far away,” the ex-president said during an interview that aired on Wednesday night on Just the News, No Noise.

The one-term president compared the US voting system to the one in France, where he lauded the European nation for its practise of using paper ballots - something French President Emmanuel Macron tried to change in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic to allow for more electoral participation but was ultimately rejected by a conservative majority Senate.

“We should go to paper ballots, like they did in France. Thirty-six million people (voted) and they had no disputes. Everyone had paper ballots, and it was one-day voting,” Mr Trump said to his host, Amanda Head. “They didn’t store them over there in the corner, and you see the boxes moving all over the place.”

The twice-impeached president went on to decry that the US is, by his assessment, “a laughingstock all over the world”, claiming that people from across the globe find themselves “laughing at our stupid elections.”

When pressed about whether he was considering a bid for president in 2024, Mr Trump coyly dodged giving a straight answer but highlighted that he is still drawing large crowds for his rallies where he stumps for Republican candidates running for Congress and the Senate in the upcoming midterms.

“You’ve seen the rallies, I think they’re bigger than ever,” he said, before taking a swipe at Democrats campaigning for the November midterms who he believed were handing Republicans a victory based on some candidates’ platforms on police reform.

“These people (Democrats) still want, and they still talk about defunding the police. So I think it really should be very good for Republicans.”

Trump claims he would beat a Washington-Lincoln ticket by 40 points

Thursday 6 October 2022 10:26 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump cited a pollster and claimed he would beat George Washington and Abraham Lincoln “by 40 per cent”, if they teamed up as president and vice president.

The former president made the remarks during a speech at the Hispanic leadership conference in Miami, Florida on Wednesday.

Mr Trump said “famous pollster John McLaughlin” told him just before the pandemic that “if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came alive from the dead and formed a president, vice president team, you would beat them by 40 per cent”.

Read the full story from Maroosha Muzaffar here:

Trump claims he would beat a Washington-Lincoln ticket by 40 points

Report: Mom of Walker's child says he paid for her abortion

Thursday 6 October 2022 10:00 , John Bowden

The woman who says Mr Walker paid for her abortion in 2009 is not unknown to the Georgia Senate candidate — she’s the mother of one of his other children, The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday.

It’s another shocking twist in the story which has dominated headlines since it dropped this week. And it’s a new headache for Mr Walker, whose own son Christian has gone on the attack on social media, pointing out in a viral Twitter video that his father has four children from four separate women.

Read more in The Independent:

Report: Mom of Walker's child says he paid for her abortion

Trump claims friendly pollster said he’d beat Washington, Lincoln

Thursday 6 October 2022 09:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump made an appearance at the Hispanic Leadership conference in Miami on Wednesday where he made a bold declaration about his electability.

The twice-impeached former president told a crowd that pollster John McLaughlin had told him he could defeat a ticket consisting of reanimated George Washington and zombie Abraham Lincoln — a conversation he said occurred “just prior to the plague coming in”, apparently referring to Covid-19.

There may be a few reasons to doubt that claim, not least given that Mr McLaughlin’s firm has a “C/D” rating by FiveThirtyEight and according to the aggregator calls less than 75 per cent of its races correctly.

‘Dark Brandon’ trends after Biden declares: ‘No one f***s with a Biden'

Thursday 6 October 2022 08:00 , John Bowden

Joe Biden may have just poured gasoline on the aging “Dark Brandon” memes with his appearance in Florida.

The president was overheard on a hot mic — long his adversary throughout a decades-long political career — telling a local official that “no one f***s with a Biden” as he toured hurricane-damaged areas in Florida.

The “Dark Brandon” meme term was trending with thousands of tweets Wednesday evening after the video was posted.

New poll shows Georgia Senate race trending away from Republicans

Thursday 6 October 2022 07:00 , John Bowden

A poll published on Wednesday from InsiderAdvantage/Fox 5 Atlanta shows a startling six-point swing in favour of the incumbent, Senator Raphael Warnock, in just a month.

Mr Warnock now leads his opponent by three points in the survey, the same margin by which he trailed Mr Walker in the same firm’s survey from early September.

Read more at The Hill:

Herschel Walker’s son tweets, deletes another cryptic message

Thursday 6 October 2022 06:00 , John Bowden

The son of Herschel Walker, who publicly excoriated his father in the wake of a story from The Daily Beast reporting that the Georgia Senate candidate paid for a woman’s abortion in 2009, seems to have more to say.

The 23-year-old influencer tweeted and deleted the following message on Wednesday evening: “God will not be mocked”.

It’s not clear what it refers to, but it comes following his father addressing his past controversies (by reference, if not directly) in a new ad claiming to have moved on after having been saved by “grace”.

Liz Cheney says she’s only Republican willing to condemn racist attack on McConnell’s wife

Thursday 6 October 2022 05:00 , John Bowden

Congresswoman Liz Cheney commented on what she said was a sad state of affairs in her party after most GOP politicians on Capitol Hill declined to release statements or otherwise comment about a racist slur used by Donald Trump in recent days to refer to Mitch McConnell’s wife.

The outgoing GOP representative strongly condemned both the former president’s recent remark about Elaine Chao, his former Transportation secretary, as well as members of her own party for not speaking up.

“When you see former President Trump just in the last 24 hours suggesting in a pretty thinly veiled way, using words that could well cause violence against the Republican leader of the Senate, saying he has a death wish and then, you know, launching an absolutely despicable, racist attack against Secretary Chao, Leader McConnell’s wife, and then you watch the fact that nobody in my party will say that’s unacceptable,” she told The Hill.

Read more:

Cheney sole Republican calling Trump out for ‘racist’ attack on McConnell’s wife

Trump calls on Fox News to rehire Lou Dobbs

Thursday 6 October 2022 04:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday to complain about Fox News’s lineup as he faces a deluge of criminal and legal controversies.

The conspiracy-slinging Fox Business Network host was fired and his show canceled just hours after the company was sued for more than $2 bn by Smartmatic, a voting machine company which found itself the target of 2020 election fraud claims.

“We need Lou back on T.V., now!” wrote Mr Trump, linking to an article with Mr Dobbs’s recent commentary regarding the state of TV news.

Trump campaign lawyers mocked him for being broke in newly-revealed emails

Thursday 6 October 2022 03:00 , John Bowden

Donald Trump’s lawyers mocked his presidential campaign and made their own suggestions that he was violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution in private messages.

It’s the latest revelation from the January 6 committee, made in a court filing as the panel seeks to obtain emails from John Eastman, a member of Donald Trump’s legal team heavily involved in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

In one email, an attorney remarked to his colleague that it was “a shame” the latter was not in Washington at Mr Trump’s hotel so he could “contribute to violation of the emoluments clause” of the US Constitution.

Read more:

Trump campaign lawyers mocked him for being broke in newly-revealed emails

Trump used ableist slur to describe his first attorney general Jeff Sessions, book says

Thursday 6 October 2022 02:00 , John Bowden

A new book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reports that former president Donald Trump routinely used the slur “mentally retarded” to refer to Jeff Sessions, his first attorney general.

It’s a shockingly vicious way for Mr Trump to describe the one-time ally who was the first member of the US Senate to endorse his 2016 campaign.

Mr Trump would later work to block Mr Sessions from winning back his old seat in the US Senate.

Read more from The Independent:

Trump used ableist slur to describe attorney general Jeff Sessions, book says

Donations flood in for anti-Trump Brian Kemp

Thursday 6 October 2022 01:16 , John Bowden

Brian Kemp, the GOP governor of Georgia who successfully spurned Donald Trump’s support after breaking with him on the issue of the 2020 election, appears to be raking in donations and on course to win his race for reelection against perennial challenger Stacey Abrams.

Mr Kemp said that his campaign and his Georgians First committee had $15.4 million in cash, after spending nearly $20 million betwee July and September.

Stacey Abrams is set to release her fundraising numbers in the days ahead.

Read more in The Independent:

Donations jump for Georgia GOP's Kemp, Warnock stays strong

Trump predicted that GOP would accept Herschel Walker’s abortion scandal in interview for book

Thursday 6 October 2022 00:30 , John Bowden

Donald Trump predicted in an interview with Maggie Haberman that voters would accept the checkered past of Herschel Walker, his chosen candidate in Georgia’s Senate race.

The ex-president did not mention the issue of the newest revelation from The Daily Beast concerning a woman who provided an image of a personal check from Mr Walker that she said funded her abortion in 2009, but it’s a prescient prediction nonetheless as the story appears to be the “October Surprise” set to shake up the crucial race in its final weeks.

“Twenty years ago would’ve been a bigger problem. I don’t think it’s a problem today,” the twice-impeached ex-president said.

Read more:

Trump predicted that GOP would accept Herschel Walker’s abortion scandal in interview

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is ordered to testify in abortion case after fleeing home to avoid subpoena

Wednesday 5 October 2022 23:45 , John Bowden

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtonhas been ordered by a federal judge to testify in a high-profile abortion case just a week after he fled his home to avoid receiving a subpoena for the lawsuit.

Mr Paxton has tried to avoid having to testify in the case. Last week Mr Paxton fled his home to avoid being served a subpoena related to the lawsuit. The process server said he witnessed Mr Paxton turn and run into his house when he approached and called the attorney general's name.

Read more:

Texas AG Ken Paxton is ordered to testify in abortion case after fleeing subpoena

White House rips Opec for cutting oil production ahead of midterms

Wednesday 5 October 2022 23:00 , John Bowden

Joe Biden’s chief spokeswoman slammed the oil-producing nations of Opec, led by Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday following an announcement that the organisation would cut global production.

The timing of Opec’s announcement could be catastrophic for Democrats. Voters are set to decide which parties will control the House and Senate in just a few weeks, and polls throughout the 2022 campaign season have consistently shown that gas prices, inflation and the economy as a whole remain at the top of their concerns.

Read more from John Bowden in The Independent:

White House blasts Opec saying it is ‘aligning with Russia’ after oil production cut

GOP super PAC falsely claims congressional candidate saw combat as Marine

Wednesday 5 October 2022 22:15 , John Bowden

A Republican political action committee had to pull a television advertisement promoting Minnesota congressional candidate Tyler Kistner after a veterans group pointed out that the ad falsely claimed he was a combat veteran.

The ad’s takedown was spearheaded by VoteVets, a veterans’ political organisation that is supporting the incumbent Democrat, Rep Angie Craig.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

GOP super PAC falsely claims congressional candidate saw combat as Marine

Trump-backed Walker releases new ad as polls show him slipping

Wednesday 5 October 2022 21:32 , John Bowden

Herschel Walker has released a new ad as polls show the gap between him and incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock, the Democrat, widening in the wake of a scandal in which Mr Walker has been accused of paying for an abortion despite being against the practice being legal.

In the 30-second video, Mr Walker claims that he is “saved by Grace” and attributes his past controversies to a battle with mental health. He also blames his opponent, a reverend, for not believing in “redemption”.

Watch the ad below:

Biden praises DeSantis as he tours Florida hurricane devastation

Wednesday 5 October 2022 20:36 , John Bowden

Joe Biden had warm praise for Florida’s Gov Ron DeSantis in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s destructive landfall in the state as he toured damaged areas on Wednesday.

It’s an interesting moment that simultaneously plays into Mr Biden’s image as the calm foil of Donald Trump, who famously warred with California’s Democratic leaders after devastating wildfires in their state, while also serving to provide ammunition for Mr DeSantis in his potential (expected?) challenge for the 2024 GOP nomination — likely against Mr Trump.

“What the governor’s done is pretty remarkable,” Mr Biden said of his potential 2024 rival on Wednesday. "I think he's done a good job.”

Trump ally walks back abortion comment

Wednesday 5 October 2022 19:46 , John Bowden

A spokesman for Kari Lake said Tuesday the Republican candidate for Arizona governor didn't mean to suggest abortion should be legal, saying she's not calling for changes to the state’s near-total abortion ban.

The headache for Ms Lake’s campaign is a result of her telling a radio station — during her first expansive interview about abortion rights as a candidate — that she wanted the practice to be “rare but legal” and “rare but safe”.

Polls indicate that the governor’s race in the southwestern swing state is deadlocked, with Ms Lake’s Democratic opponent leading her by just 0.1 percentage points in a FiveThirtyEight poll average.

Read more:

Kari Lake walks back 'rare and legal' abortion comment

Pete Buttigieg mocks Trump ally for saying he ‘emasculates’ people by promoting electric cars

Wednesday 5 October 2022 19:00 , John Bowden

Pete Buttigieg has hit back at Marjorie Taylor Greene after she accused him of trying to “emasculate” people by encouraging them to opt for electric cars over carbon dioxide emitting vehicles.

“I literally don’t even understand what that means,” Mr Buttigieg said during an interview with Fox News. “My sense of manhood is not connected to whether or not my vehicle is fuelled by gasoline or whether it’s fuelled by electricity.”

Read more about the latest homophobic slurs that Ms Greene is reaching towards to please her far-right base:

Buttigieg mocks Greene for saying he ‘emasculates’ people for promoting EVs

Trump takes credit for DeSantis winning governor election in new Maggie Haberman audio

Wednesday 5 October 2022 18:17 , John Bowden

Donald Trump says in newly-released audio that Ron DeSantis likely wouldn’t be governor at all had it not been for his endorsement.

The audio clip was released to CNN on Wednesday by New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman, the product of one of her interviews with Mr Trump. Haberman released the audio as part of a press tour for her book, Confidence Man, which published on Tuesday.

In the clip, Mr Trump is heard calmly describing to Haberman how he rescued Mr DeSantis’s gubernatorial came from the brink of defeat.

Read more:

Trump takes credit for DeSantis becoming governor in new Maggie Haberman audio

Maine’s Republican governor says he’d veto 15-week abortion ban

Wednesday 5 October 2022 17:30 , John Bowden

In another blow to Republican unity around the issue of abortion, Maine’s Gov Paul LePage said on Tuesday that he’d veto legislation in his state seeking to ban abortions after 15 weeks into the pregnancy.

The statement is significant given that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has introduced a bill that would ban the practice nationwide at that same standard. Republicans have fractured as a party in the wake of the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs Wade, with no unified consensus emerging regarding what the GOP’s stance should be.

Read more about Mr LePage’s rejection of his own party’s legislation:

Republican LePage says he would veto 15-week abortion ban

Nearly 50-point split between partisan groups approval ratings of FBI, CIA, new poll finds

Wednesday 5 October 2022 17:00 , Johanna Chisholm

Nearly half of Americans believe that federal agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), are doing good or excellent jobs, a new poll from Gallup released on Wednesday found.

The poll found that the two federal agencies had experienced a recovery from findings released two years earlier, which Americans viewed much less favourably. For instance, in 2021, the CIA had an approval rating of 41 per cent, now up to 52 per cent, while the FBI went from 44 per cent last year to 50 per cent this year.

By comparison, in 2019, those two agencies had 60 per cent and 57 per cent positive job ratings, respectively.

Those positive job ratings, however, split along party lines, as the recent poll found that Democrats have a significantly more favourable view of the FBI and the CIA than their Republican counterparts (79 per cent of Dems and 29 per cent of Republican respondents say the FBI is doing a good job).

The report notes that these findings track, as Republicans have become increasingly critical of the FBI since the probe into Russian election interference in the 2016 election kicked off in 2017 and more recently after federal agents raided the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in connection with an investigation into his handling of classified documents.

Trump takes credit for DeSantis winning governor election in new Maggie Haberman audio

Wednesday 5 October 2022 16:29 , Johanna Chisholm

Donald Trump says in newly-released audio that Ron DeSantis likely wouldn’t be governor at all had it not been for his endorsement.

The audio clip was released to CNN on Wednesday by New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman, the product of one of her interviews with Mr Trump. Haberman released the audio as part of a press tour for her book, Confidence Man, which published on Tuesday.

In the clip, Mr Trump is heard calmly describing to Haberman how he rescued Mr DeSantis’s gubernatorial came from the brink of defeat.

“He was at 3 per cent. [But] he was a great defender of mine in the Russia hoax, he was on television,” Mr Trump explained.

“He came to me, he said, ‘I’d love your endorsement,’” the former president is heard saying. “I said, ‘Ron, you’re at 3 per cent. You can’t win.’ He said, ‘If you endorse me, I can.’”

John Bowden has more below:

Trump takes credit for DeSantis becoming governor in new Maggie Haberman audio

Who is Ron DeSantis?

Wednesday 5 October 2022 16:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who some believe arrived in the governor’s mansion as a result of his endorsement from then-president Donald Trump - including the former president himself - is running for reelection, albeit this time without the endorsement of the acting commander-in-chief.

Unlike last time, however, the 44-year-old Republican governor’s political star is rising. He is now not only favoured to win reelection in the upcoming midterms, but has also been floated as a likely challenger on the GOP ticket for the 2024 presidential election to the very man who helped him get to where he is today.

Here, Andrew Buncombe, the chief US correspondent of The Independent, explains why the Sunshine State governor’s rising prominence in the Republican Party is something that people should be paying close attention to.

Statesman or culture warrior - Who is Ron DeSantis this week?

Trump told Haberman that he thinks he’d win ‘very easily’ against anybody in 2024

Wednesday 5 October 2022 16:00 , Johanna Chisholm

In one of the interviews from September 2021 between former President Donald Trump and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, he confessed to the journalist that he believes he’d ‘very easily win against anybody’ if he were remount a campaign for the White House in 2024.

The revelation came from an audio snippet that Ms Haberman shared on MSNBC while promoting her new book, Confidence Man, which was released on Tuesday.

MSNBC host Alex Wagner introduces the clip, shared with the news outlet exclusively, by saying that Mr Trump’s had come after Ms Haberman had asked about Florida Gov Ron DeSantis - “potentially his greatest opponent if he should run again in 2024,” as Ms Wagner described him.

“Well has he said to you that he wouldn’t run if you ran?” Ms Haberman can be heard asking as the audio clip from last year begins playing.

“I didn’t - I never asked him, but if - if - Let’s put it this way: I think I’d win very easily against anybody,” replies Mr Trump, before interrupting Ms Haberman to add: “I’m at 98 per cent in the approval.”

Buttigieg mocks Greene for saying he ‘emasculates’ people by promoting electric cars

Wednesday 5 October 2022 15:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Pete Buttigieg has hit back at Marjorie Taylor Greene after she accused him of trying to “emasculate” people by encouraging them to opt for electric cars over carbon dioxide emitting vehicles.

The Georgia congresswoman levelled the offensive remark at “Democrats like Pete Buttigieg” while she was stumping in Michigan over the weekend alongside former President Donald Trump, who held the campaign-style rally where he once again voiced his unproven allegation that the 2020 election was stolen and simultaneously endorsed several Republicans in the November midterms.

The transportation secretary struggled to hide a look of bemusement when the quote was read back to him by Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday night.

“I literally don’t even understand what that means,” said Mr Buttigieg. “My sense of manhood is not connected to whether or not my vehicle is fuelled by gasoline or whether it’s fuelled by electricity,” he said, before calling it “a strange thing to say”.

Read the full report from The Independent below:

Buttigieg mocks Greene for saying he ‘emasculates’ people for promoting EVs

Observers fret Elon Musk buyout could turn Twitter into ‘supercharged engine of radicalisation’

Wednesday 5 October 2022 15:20 , Johanna Chisholm

The news that Elon Musk has reprised his original $44bn offer to buy Twitter has sent shock waves through Silicon Valley, Wall Street and, of course, sparking plenty of discussion on the app itself.

Few observers were pleased to learn that the mercurial billionaire was once again nearing completion for his takeover of the influential media platform, with many left worrying he would empower right-wing forces on the site.

ngelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media watchdog

Josh Marcus has more here:

Observers fret Musk could turn Twitter into ‘supercharged engine of radicalisation’

Trump told Haberman that Herschel Walker’s personal history wouldn’t be a problem

Wednesday 5 October 2022 15:00 , Johanna Chisholm

In the wake of a report that Herschel Walker allegedly paid for a woman’s abortion years earlier, leaders of top GOP political organisations - including former President Donald Trump - are rallying around Georgia Senate candidate in his defence.

Before the Daily Beast report made headlines this week and sent shockwaves through the GOP, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman asked the former president about the former professional football player’s personal history.

“Trump talking in CONFIDENCE MAN about why the allegations about Walker’s personal history wouldn’t be a problem,” tweeted Ms Haberman on Wednesday morning, referencing the most recent scandal to have sent the Walker campaign spinning.

“He does, but do you know that it’s a personal history, that maybe ten years ago, maybe it would have been a problem. Twenty years ago would’ve been a bigger problem. I don’t think it’s a problem today,” Trump reportedly said to Ms Haberman when asked about Mr Walker’s personal history.

She then asked the ex-president during that interview why he thinks that is, to which he reportedly said: “Because the world is changing.”

Trump’s direct handling of Mar-a-Lago records could strengthen DoJ case, legal experts say

Wednesday 5 October 2022 14:40 , Johanna Chisholm

Legal experts are warning that the latest revelation from the Washington Post on Monday that Donald Trump reportedly packaged up more than a dozen of the initial boxes that were returned to the National Archives and kicked off the Justice Department probe could strengthen the government’s case.

Though the government has not indicated whether it has chosen to prosecute the former president, legal experts told The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch that the Post’s reporting of the president’s involvement in packing the boxes could strengthen their case, should they choose to pursue it.

On Monday, the Post reported that one of Mr Trump’s attorneys, Alex Cannon, had refused to comply with an ask the one-term president that he certify that all of the government material that was being stored at Trump’s Florida resort had been returned.

“The fact that he packed them is very significant because I imagine the Justice Department is trying to resolve how much evidence they have that Trump personally knew and personally was involved in hiding the documents,” Ryan Goodman, a co-director of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, told The Hill.

Read the full report from The Hill here.

Georgia Republican Party is partially funding lawyers for ‘fake’ Trump electors in Fulton County probe, report claims

Wednesday 5 October 2022 14:20 , Johanna Chisholm

The District Attorney in Fulton County, Georgia is alleging in a new court filing that the Georgia Republican Party is providing the legal funds for many of the so-called “fake electors” who are currently under investigation for their supposed involvement in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Yahoo News reports.

According to campaign finance filings that the news outlet reviewed, the Republican Party in Georgia “paid $35,419 last July to two lawyers who are representing 11 of 16 party operatives and activists and activists who declared themselves on Dec. 14, 2020, “the duly elected and qualified” electors from the state pledged to Donald Trump despite the fact that Joe Biden had won the popular vote there.”

Read the full report here.

Trump used slur to describe his first attorney general, book says

Wednesday 5 October 2022 14:00 , Johanna Chisholm

A new book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman says former president Donald Trump routinely used a slur often employed to describe persons with intellectual disabilities when speaking of the first person to serve as attorney general in his administration, ex-Alabama senator Jeff Sessions.

Mr Sessions, who was the first member of the upper chamber to endorse Mr Trump during the 2016 election and advised his campaign, drew the then-president’s ire and scorn after he followed Department of Justice policy by recusing himself from the department’s probe into ties between Mr Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.

Read more:

Trump used slur to describe his first attorney general, book says

Pete Buttigieg disputes Marjorie Taylor Greene’s remarks about electric cars being ‘emasculating'

Wednesday 5 October 2022 13:40 , Johanna Chisholm

While rallying with Donald Trump in Michigan over the weekend, Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene went on the attack against Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and accused the Democrat of trying to “emasculate the way we drive” for promoting greener forms of transportation.

On Tuesday night, the transportation secretary was asked about the Republican congresswoman’s comment, which he struggled to hide a sincere look of bemusement when the quote was read back to him by Fox News host Neil Cavuto.

“Democrats like Pete Buttigieg want to emasculate the way we drive and force all of you to rely on electric vehicles,” the quote from Ms Greene read. Mr Cavuto then asked what Mr Buttigieg thought of the Georgia congresswoman’s comments.

“I literally don’t even understand what that means,” he replied. “My sense of manhood is not connected to whether or not my vehicle is fuelled by gasoline or whether it’s fuelled by electricity,” he said, before noting that her remarks were “a strange thing to say”.

“You know, to be honest, there are other members of Congress that I pay more attention to when I’m thinking about opinions that really matter or ideas that are going to be critical to engage with.”

New York Democrat says he wouldn’t back Biden or Trump in 2024 presidential race

Wednesday 5 October 2022 13:20 , Johanna Chisholm

Former Rep Max Rose, who is running against Republican congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis in the race to represent New York’s 11th Congressional District, said on 6 O’clock News on FOX 5 NY that he wouldn’t back President Joe Biden or ex-president Donald Trump in the 2024 bid for the White House.

“I do not think that Donald Trump should run 2024. I do not think that Joe Biden should run in 2024,” Mr Rose, who previously worked in the Biden administration, said. “I’m sick and tired of that generation being in power. We’ve got to move on.”

“We have to turn the page, not just on this politics of ineffectiveness, but also these politics of division and vitriol. It's time to move on as a nation,” he added.