Related Video: Donald Trump accused of ‘attempted coup’ at January 6 hearing
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
January 6 committee chairman Rep Bennie Thompson has told reporters that they will be making criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
He did not go into further detail adding that the committee investigating the 2021 Capitol riot still had to discuss the matter further.
Meanwhile, Republican Senators sought to distance themselves from former president Donald Trump’s remarks where he called for parts of the Constitution to be terminated but stopped short of saying whether the unprecedented proposals should disqualify him from running in 2024.
“Kind of at a loss for words,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas told The Independent, while his GOP counterpart in Louisiana has this to say: “The Constitution can be amended. The Constitution can be interpreted, but the Constitution can’t be suspended.”
While speaking on CNN, however, Sen Cornyn’s assessment of Trump’s posturing fell along the same lines as Sen John Thune and Sen Rick Scott, who both refused to say whether the ex-president should be prevented from his bid for the White House. The Senate Minority Whip admitted that for other potential candidates this was “a golden opportunity”.
Trump Organization found guilty on all criminal tax fraud charges
A New York City jury has convicted two subsidiaries of former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company, the Trump Organization of charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a sweeping, multi-decade scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes by compensating top executives with untaxed benefits such as housing and automobiles.
Jurors rendered a guilty verdict on all of the 15 charges included in an indictment filed last year against the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation, as well as its long-time chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.
Andrew Feinberg reports on this breaking story.
A New York City jury has convicted two subsidiaries of former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company, the Trump Organization of charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a sweeping, multi-decade scheme to avoid paying payroll taxes by compensating top executives with untaxed benefits such as housing and automobiles.
Voices: Yes, this might be the end of Donald Trump... but we’ve been here before
As the January 6 committee says it will be making criminal referrals to the Department of Justice (but has not said specifically who), the prospect of a former president being criminally charged has crept closer.
But, as Andrew Buncombe writes, we have been here before, many times.
Trump is already de facto Republican frontrunner for 2024
Family of Capitol officer who died after Jan 6 attack refuse to shake hands with GOP leaders
The family of a US Capitol Police officer who received a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor for his service during a violent riot inside the halls of Congress refused to shake hands with Republican leadership who presented the family with the award during a formal ceremony.
Alex Woodward has the story.
‘I’m just tired of them saying how wonderful the Capitol police is, and then they … go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring’
DoJ subpoenas three states for Trump communications connected to Jan 6 attack
A recently appointed special counsel at the US Department of Justice has issued subpoenas for documents in three states that were central to former president Donald Trump’s attempt to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election
Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin for communications with the former president, his campaign and others within his circle.
Alex Woodward has the story.
Newly appointed special counsel issues first known Justice Department subpoenas in Capitol riot investigation, zeroing in on three states central to ex-president’s failed attempt to overturn 2020 results
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has commented on former President Donald Trump’s calls for the termination of the Constitution.
“Anyone seeking the presidency who thinks that the constitution should somehow be suspended or not followed seems to me would have a very hard time being sworn in as the President of the United States,” he said.
Jury deliberations continue in Trump Organization tax fraud trial
Jurors started deliberating Monday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, weighing charges that former President Donald Trump’s company helped executives dodge personal income taxes on perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars.
The deliberations follow a monthlong trial that featured testimony from seven witnesses, including longtime Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg and Senior Vice President and Controller Jeffrey McConney. An outside accountant who spent years preparing tax returns for Trump and the company also testified.
Read on:
Jurors have started deliberating in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial
Trump pays tribute to ‘great’ Kirstie Alley
On Monday (5 December), Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Kirstie was a great person who truly loved the USA. She will be missed!!!”
Alley was a vocal supporter of Trump
Mar-a-Lago papers: Trump facing peril
As a businessman and president, Donald Trump faced a litany of lawsuits and criminal investigations yet emerged from the legal scrutiny time and again with his public and political standing largely intact.
But he’s perhaps never confronted a probe as perilous as the Mar-a-Lago investigation, an inquiry focused on the potential mishandling of top-secret documents. The sense of vulnerability has been heightened in recent weeks not only by the Justice Department‘s appointment of a special counsel with a reputation for aggressiveness but also by the removal of a Trump-requested independent arbiter in the case and by judges’ unequivocal rejection of his lawyers’ arguments.
It’s impossible to predict how much longer the investigation will last or whether the Justice Department will take the unprecedented step of indicting a former president and current candidate. But Trump is no longer shielded from prosecution the way he was as president, and some legal experts regard the Mar-a-Lago investigation as centered on more straightforward factual and legal questions than the prior probes he has dealt with.
Read on:
As a businessman and president, Donald Trump faced a litany of lawsuits and criminal investigations yet emerged from the legal scrutiny time and again with his public and political standing largely intact
Watch: Family of police officer who defended Capitol refuse to shake Mitch McConnell’s hand
The family of Brian Sicknick, a police officer who died after responding to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, refused to shake hands with Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy as they accepted the Congressional Gold Medal on his behalf. A medical examiner ruled Mr Sicknick suffered strokes and died of natural causes. When asked why she did not shake hands with the House GOP leader or Senate Republican leader, Sicknick's mother Gladys Sicknick told CNN she was "tired of them standing there and saying how wonderful the Capitol police is and then they... go down to Mar-a-Lago." Sign up for our newsletters.
Jan 6 special counsel issues first subpoenas
Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local officials in Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin for any and all communications with former President Donald Trump, his campaign, and a long list of aides and allies, The Washington Post reports.
The three states were central to the former president’s attempt to remain in power after the 2020 election.
Requests for records arrived in Dane County, Wisconsin; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Wayne County, Michigan last week, and in Milwaukee on Monday, officials told the Post.
These are the first known subpoenas issued by Mr Smith, who last month was named as a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland with purview over the January 6 Capitol attack case and the criminal investigation into Mr Trump’s possible mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.