Trump news - live: Trump faces new E Jean Carroll rape suit after Kanye West visit to Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump is facing a second lawsuit from author E Jean Carroll, who accuses him of raping her in a New York department store in the 1990s.

Availing herself of a new state law that comes into effect today, Ms Carroll is suing Mr Trump for rape and sexual assault as well as defamation over recent comments he made calling her a “con job” and accusing her of lying about her allegations.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is reportedly seeking to question Mike Pence as part of its ongoing investigation into January 6 and Donald Trump’s months-long effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Mr Pence was presiding over in the ceritfication of the election results at the time the Capitol was attacked by a horde of Trump supporters and right-wing extremists. His life was directly threatened by rioters during the attack, and his security team was forced to rush him away to a secure position just a few feet from where attackers had breached the building.

Key points

• E Jean Carroll files new Trump rape lawsuit

• Justice Department seeks to question Pence

• AG Garland names war crimes prosecutor Jack Smith as Trump probes special counsel

• Pence: Trump’s actions endangered my family

• Appeals court looks poised to toss out special master order

GOP megadonor splits with Trump: Time for ‘new generation of leaders’

05:20 , John Bowden

An influential conservative donor has announced that he was not supporting Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, a stance that shows just how deep the fractures within the GOP may run after last week’s midterms.

In terms of overall monetary support, the blow to Mr Trump’s campaign finances will be minimal. But there’s a greater significance at play here; the announcement from a major GOP donor came the morning after Mr Trump officially entered the 2024 presidential race.

John Bowden looks into the growing GOP fractures for The Independent:

GOP megadonor splits with Trump: Time for ‘new generation of leaders’

The rise of the ‘crazy caucus’: All the ways the GOP could upend America now that they’ve won the House

04:20 , John Bowden

How bad could things get for the US now that Republicans – as expected – will take control of the House of Representatives in January after the midterm elections?

The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg looked at all the ways that the GOP, with a far-right faction feeling increasingly emboldened thanks to their ability to hijack the party’s agenda, could gum up the works and cause a two-year headache for Joe Biden.

Read more:

All the ways the GOP could upend America now that they’ve won the House

Trump accused of ‘stealing’ from Herschel Walker campaign with deceptive fundraising emails

03:20 , John Bowden

Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s campaign has accused Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, of “deceptive” fundraising.

Scott Paradise, Mr Walker’s campaign manager, called out Republicans who advertised fundraising for Mr Walker and called on them to share more of the money, NBC News reported.

Read more from Eric Garcia in The Independent:

Trump accused of ‘stealing’ from Herschel Walker campaign with fundraising emails

Georgia ban on Saturday voting before Warnock vs Walker runoff would ‘irreparably harm’ voters, judge rules

02:20 , John Bowden

Raphael Warnock’s campaign was victorious last week in a crucial lawsuit against a state law banning early in-person voting on the Saturday after a holiday, allowing voters to head back to the polls on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Senator Warnock remains in a nailbiter against Herschel Waklker, a former pro footballer-turned Trump acolyte and GOP candidate for US Senate. Should Mr Warnock win, Democrats will expand their majority by one seat in the upper chamber in a final refutation of the “red wave” predicted by Republicans this year.

Read more:

Georgia judge allows early voting on Saturday before Warnock v Walker runoff election

Herschel Walker tells bizarre story about vampires and werewolves

01:20 , John Bowden

Herschel Walker veered into a strange and seemingly inexplicable tangent about vampires, werewolves and faith while the Republican Senate candidate rallied in Georgia ahead of his runoff election in December against Sen Raphael Warnock.

The former professional football player delivered the bizarre commentary while standing at the pulpit at an event held in McDonough, Georgia on Wednesday.

Read more:

Herschel Walker references vampires and werewolves in bizarre speech

Less than 20 Kari Lake supporters turn out for statehouse protest against her Arizona governor election loss

00:20 , John Bowden

A small but vocal group of election deniers rallied outside the state capitol in Arizona to protest Kari Lake’s loss in the gubernatorial race against Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs.

Approximately 15 people gathered at the Arizona state capitol on Tuesday, with some waving flags emblazoned with pro-Trump messages and “SOS”.

Ms Lake has refused to concede her race and raised allegations of voter suppression — but she does not have the backing of other Republicans in the state, including, crucially, Gov Doug Ducey.

Less than 20 Kari Lake supporters turn out for protest against Arizona election loss

Thursday 24 November 2022 23:20 , John Bowden

Arizona’s Republican governor congratulated the Democratic victor of the state’s gubernatorial race this week after her defeat of Kari Lake, a Trump-backed Republican candidate who made headlines for battling with reporters and insisting that the 2020 election was stolen.

Ms Lake continues to insist that her race was the target of voter suppression tactics after some Lake supporters complained about long lines and issues with printers at precincts — though very few have said they were unable to vote entirely.

Read more in The Independent:

Outgoing Arizona governor congratulates Katie Hobbs– as Kari Lake refuses to concede

Trump holds comfortable lead over DeSantis in 2024 primary poll

Thursday 24 November 2022 22:20 , John Bowden

Donald Trump still holds a comfortable lead over Ron DeSantis in the first major post-midterms poll of the hypothetical 2024 Republican primary field, but don’t count the Florida governor out yet.

The ex-president led his opponent by 30 points in an Emerson College survey of likely GOP primary voters released on Tuesday. Mr DeSantis was supported by 25 per cent of respondents to Mr Trump’s 55 per cent, a sign of both the ex-president’s continued political strength as well as the rapidly growing star power of the Florida governor in GOP circles.

John Bowden dives into the poll’s significance for The Independent:

Trump holds comfortable lead over DeSantis in 2024 primary poll

Thursday 24 November 2022 21:18 , John Bowden

Former President Donald Trump has been invited back to Twitter by the platform’s new CEO, Elon Musk, but has thus far declined to return. Instead he’s spending his time on his own social media site, Truth Social, where he has posted some truly strange things in the last several months.

Mr Trump regularly "re-truths" posts that sing his praises, but one of his most recent posts includes an edited video featuring a bizarre mashup of scenes from movies in which characters watch in rapturous glee as the former president gives speeches and brags about himself.

Read more:

Trump posts bizarre video manipulating famous movie scenes into fans fawning over him

Pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell begs Elon Musk to contact him as he remains banned from Twitter

Thursday 24 November 2022 20:21 , John Bowden

Pillow vendor and 2020 conspiracy mogul Mike Lindell publicly appealed to Elon Musk this week for his Twitter account to be reinstated.

The MyPillow CEO was banned from the platform earlier this year after he created a second account to evade a temporary ban handed down by the platform’s moderators, who had flagged his account for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election.

In a broadcast as part of his “Lindell TV” programme on a right-wing streaming site, he called on Mr Musk to make contact with him and claimed that the billionaire Tesla founder was ignoring him.

Read more:

Conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell begs Elon Musk to call him and reverse Twitter ban

Kanye West says he asked Donald Trump to be his 2024 presidential running mate

Thursday 24 November 2022 19:20 , John Bowden

Kanye West revealed that he has asked former US president Donald Trump to be his “running mate” for the 2024 presidential elections.

The exchange apparently occurred when Mr West travelled to Mar-a-Lago with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who marched at the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“What you guys think [Trump’s] response was when I asked him to be my running mate in 2024?” Ye, who ran for office in 2020, asked his fans on Twitter.

Read more:

Kanye West says he asked Donald Trump to be his 2024 presidential running mate

Elon Musk claims Twitter hate speech impressions have fallen amid ongoing questions about moderation

Thursday 24 November 2022 18:40 , John Bowden

Elon Musk claims that total impressions for tweets containing hate speech have fallen since he took over as CEO and implemented a number of widely controversial changes, such as reversing Donald Trump’s ban from the platform.

In the days after Mr Musk became the owner and chief executive of Twitter, it saw a vast surge in the amount of hate speech being posted on the site. Many users gleefully took advantage of Mr Musk’s commitment to minimise content moderation by posting racial slurs and other offensive content.

But Mr Musk says that trend has since been reversed.

Read more:

Elon Musk claims Twitter hate speech impressions have fallen

Mary Peltola and Lisa Murkowski dealt Trump a double defeat in Alaska – and leave Sarah Palin out in the cold

Thursday 24 November 2022 18:09 , John Bowden

Donald Trump just suffered a two-pronged defeat in Alaska, his latest setback in his efforts to reshape the GOP in his image and prove the strength of his brand nationwide.

Mary Peltola defeated Sarah Palin for a second time in Alaska’s at-large congressional race, while Lisa Murkowski fought back a Trump-backed GOP challenger.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia dives in to the final days of the midterm elections:

How Peltola and Murkowski dealt Trump a double defeat in Alaska

Ducey congratulates Dobbs as Lake keeps up fight

Thursday 24 November 2022 16:55 , Andrew Naughtie

Arizona’s outgoing Republican Governor Doug Ducey congratulated Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs on her victory despite the fact that Republican nominee Kari Lake refused to concede.

Mr Ducey, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, had endorsed Ms Lake’s opponent Karrin Taylor Robson in the gubernatorial primary, before later endorsing Ms Lake in the general election.

But he congratulated Ms Hobbs, the current secretary of state, on her victory.

“All of us have waited patiently for the democratic process to play out,” he said. “The people of Arizona have spoken, their votes have been counted and we respect their decision.”

Eric Garcia writes:

Outgoing Arizona governor congratulates Katie Hobbs– as Kari Lake refuses to concede

Why do Democrats want Trump’s tax returns?

Thursday 24 November 2022 16:25 , Andrew Naughtie

Since he was first running for president, Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns, falsely claiming he could not do so because he was under audit by the IRS (he was not, and that would not prevent him from releasing them anyway). He has since spent years fighting Democrats on the House Oversight Committee to stop them obtaining a copy of the returns – and he appears to have finally lost the battle, with the Supreme Court this week clearing the release of the returns to Congress.

Here’s John Bowden to explain what it all means.

Why do Democrats care about Donald Trump’s tax returns?

Club Q shooting: “Stop the steal” lawyer Jenna Ellis spreads hateful message

Thursday 24 November 2022 15:55 , Andrew Naughtie

Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell may be better known, but lawyer Jenna Ellis played just as central a role in the post-2020 election “stop the steal” effort as they did – but having failed across the board in her legal machinations between November 2020 and January 2021, she is now reduced to spouting conspiracy theories and hateful right-wing rhetoric.

Here she is with her take on the Club Q shooting in Colorado, which saw five people at an LGBT+ bar murdered by a single gunman before other patrons stopped him in his tracks:

Greene and Lake join Mar-a-Lago singalong

Thursday 24 November 2022 15:25 , Andrew Naughtie

Criminal investigation and political decline may be hanging in the air at Mar-a-Lago, but various figures on the extreme right are still more than happy to make the journey to Donald Trump’s Florida laager for a hangout with the former president.

And in this case, “Journey” is the key word:

Analysis: How Trump lost in Alaska

Thursday 24 November 2022 14:55 , Andrew Naughtie

With Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola now re-elected for a full term and Senator Lisa Murkowski seeing off a right-wing rival, Alaska has joined various other states in declining to elect Donald Trump’s chosen candidates. In today’s Inside Washington dispatch, Eric Garcia takes a look at what it means:

Read the full piece below.

How Peltola and Murkowski dealt Trump a double defeat in Alaska

Tensions reported between Cheney and Jan 6 committee staff

Thursday 24 November 2022 14:20 , Andrew Naughtie

Staff members at the House select committee investigating the January 6 riots at the US Capitol are reportedly angry at Liz Cheney for her push to focus on former president Donald Trump in the final report.

Ms Cheney, the Republican vice-chair of the panel, has left staffers rankled in the panel by exerting high levels of control of the investigation and the final report, members of the panel told The Washington Post.

Several staffers believe that the outgoing Wyoming representative is morphing the committee into a vehicle for her own political future, it reported.

Shweta Sharma reports:

Jan 6 panel staff angry at Liz Cheney for ‘focusing too much on Trump’, report says

Kanye West spotted en route to Mar-a-Lago accompanied by notorious white supremacist

Thursday 24 November 2022 13:50 , Andrew Naughtie

It appears that Kanye West’s tweet about visiting Mar-a-Lago may have been for real – at least judging by reports that he was spotted at the golf club. However, a more disturbing detail is that he was seen arriving at a Miami airport with Nick Fuentes, a notorious white nationalist and out-and-out racist who has carved out a niche as one of the far right’s most extreme outriders.

Mr Fuentes is particularly versed in the style of right-wing activism that deliberately obscures the line between sincere belief and trollish provocation. Among other things, he has extolled the virtues of beating wives to keep them in line, urged right-wingers to discuss the issue of “Jewish control”, and dwelled on the matter of “racial differences in intelligence”. He is also a longtime promoter of false claims the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.

GOP governor bucks Trump to congratulate Dem governor-elect

Thursday 24 November 2022 13:20 , Andrew Naughtie

Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of Arizona, landed himself in Donald Trump’s bad graces by refusing to help overturn the 2020 election result in his state – and now he’s once again flying in the face of his party’s hardline orthodoxy by congratulating his Democratic successor, Katie Hobbs, even as her Republican rival, Kari Lake, maintains falsely that the election was stolen from her:

E Jean Carroll files new rape lawsuit against Trump

Thursday 24 November 2022 12:53 , Andrew Naughtie

Author E Jean Carroll has filed a new lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of raping her in the late 1990s, availing herself of a new state law that allows sexual abuse survivors the chance to file a claim after the statute of limitations has expired.

Ms Carroll is already suing Mr Trump for defamation over his previous claims that she is lying about her allegation, but her new case points to subsequent accusations he levelled more recently in social media posts calling her a “con job”.

The former president has long denied all the allegations against him, and has fought for years to stop Ms Carroll’s case being heard in court.

Read more:

E Jean Carroll files new rape lawsuit against Trump under NY’s Adult Survivors Act

Woman convicted of storming Pelosi's office in Jan. 6 attack

Thursday 24 November 2022 12:20 , John Bowden

A Pennsylvania woman linked to the far-right “Groyper” extremist movement has been convicted of several federal charges related to her actions on January 6.

Riley June Williams joined a mob's attack on the Capitol after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally, where then-President Donald Trump addressed thousands of supporters earlier that day. Entering Pelosi’s office, she found a laptop on a table and told another rioter, “Dude, put on gloves,” before someone with a black gloved hand removed the computer, according to prosecutors.

Williams later bragged online that she stole Pelosi’s gavel, laptop and hard drives and that she “gave the electronic devices, or attempted to give them, to unspecified Russian individuals,” prosecutors said in a June 2022 court filing. To date, they haven’t been recovered.

Read more about the sentence she could face and her involvement in the far-right’s hate movements:

Woman convicted of storming Pelosi's office in Jan. 6 attack

Manhattan prosecutors re-examining Trump hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, report says

Thursday 24 November 2022 11:50 , Andrew Naughtie

Prosecutors working under Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr are reportedly re-examining whether criminal charges can be brought against former president Donald Trump as a result of $130,000 payment his company made to cover up his affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

According to the New York Times, Mr Bragg’s office has recently sought to jump-start a long-dead investigation into the payments, which federal prosecutors used as evidence to prosecute Mr Trump’s ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, for campaign finance law violations.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Manhattan prosecutors re-examining Trump’s Stormy Daniels hush-money payments: report

Aspiring country singer charged for threats to kill fact-checkers and FBI agent over Trump ‘slander’

Thursday 24 November 2022 11:20 , John Bowden

A North Carolina MAGA supporter and an aspiring country singer has been charged for allegedly threatening to kill an FBI agent as well as fact-checkers for slandering Donald Trump.

He faces more than a decade in prison if convicted.

Read more about the escalating threats faced by FBI agents after their raid of Mar-a-Lago in September:

MAGA fan charged for threats to kill fact-checkers and FBI agent over Trump ‘slander’

John Oliver blasts Elon Musk for ‘decimating his staff and degrading Twitter’

Thursday 24 November 2022 10:20 , John Bowden

On Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight (20 November), host John Oliver said Twitter has been a “total mess” since new CEO Elon Musk took the reins, arguing that “many of the worst people on Twitter” seem to think his takeover is a sign that they can unleash vitriol.

“One analysis [found] the use of a racial slur spiking nearly 500 percent in the 12 hours after his deal was finalised, which is pretty shocking,” the host said, “even for a website where a regular trending topic is sometimes just ‘The Jews’.

“You’ll log in and see 30,000 people tweeting about ‘The Jews’ on a Tuesday afternoon, and you do not want to click to find out why.”

Read more:

John Oliver blasts Elon Musk for ‘decimating his staff and degrading Twitter’

NewsWorldAmericasUS politics Ivanka Trump tried to escape judge’s order to monitor Trump family finances, report says

Thursday 24 November 2022 09:20 , John Bowden

Former White House aide Ivanka Trump attemped to wriggle her way out of a court order appointing a special monitor to oversee the major transactions of the Trump Organization and individuals with connections to the company, according to The Daily Beast.

The news outlet reported on Monday that the ex-president’s eldest daughter sought through letters from her attorneys to the court to have her name removed from the order, a step that her two brothers Eric and Donald Jr did not take as the New York attorney general’s lawsuit against the company progresses.

John Bowden has more on Ivanka Trump’s latest effort to distance herself from her own family after a disastrous end to four years in the White House:

Ivanka Trump tried to escape judge’s order to monitor family finances, report says

E Jean Carroll files new rape lawsuit against Trump under New York’s Adult Survivors Act

Thursday 24 November 2022 22:53 , John Bowden

Author E Jean Carroll has filed a new lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of raping her in the late 1990s, availing herself of a new state law that allows sexual abuse survivors the chance to file a claim after the statute of limitations has expired.

Ms Carroll is already suing Mr Trump for defamation over his previous claims that she is lying about her allegation, but her new case points to subsequent accusations he levelled more recently in social media posts calling her a “con job”.

Read more about the latest legal fight that Donald Trump and his legal team find themselves battling:

E Jean Carroll files new rape lawsuit against Trump under NY’s Adult Survivors Act

Prosecution rests in Trump Organization tax fraud case after just two witnesses

Thursday 24 November 2022 08:20 , John Bowden

The New York City prosecutors hoping to convict former president Donald Trump’s eponymous real estate and licensing company of violating state tax laws by paying for apartments, cars and other benefits to top executives without reporting the cost as compensation finished presenting their case against the Trump Organization on Monday.

Prosecutors rested their case earlier than expected after presenting testimony from two of the company’s top executives over the last eight days in court.

Among those who testified was Allen Weisselberg, the company’s former CFO.

Read more from Andrew Feinberg about New York’s efforts to prosecute the Trump Organization:

Prosecution rests in Trump Organization tax fraud case after just two witnesses

Conservatives complain about Trump special counsel wife’s links to Michelle Obama

Thursday 24 November 2022 07:20 , John Bowden

Conservatives are furious after it was revealed that the wife of the prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to determine whether Donald Trump will face any criminal charges is apparently a Democratic donor who was involved in a documentary about Michelle Obama.

Jack Smith, a career prosecutor at the Justice Department, was tapped by Mr Garland to make the decision regarding Mr Trump’s legal fate earlier this month. It notably followed the announcement by Mr Trump that he would seek the White House a third time.

Read more about how Mr Smith is connected to Ms Obama as well as Joe Biden, the man Mr Trump has accused of weaponising the Justice Department:

Conservatives complain about Trump special counsel wife’s links to Michelle Obama

Trump rages at Bill Barr for saying it was increasingly likely ex-president would face criminal charges

Thursday 24 November 2022 06:20 , John Bowden

Calling him “sloppy,” “weak” and a “disgruntled former employee”, Donald Trump laid into his former attorney general this week after Bill Barr suggested that he thought it was now likely that federal prosecutors would indict him over his retention of documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Mr Trump also claimed that the Mar-a-Lago documents case was a hoax. “He knows nothing about the document hoax, and as a lawyer and former AG, shouldn’t be talking.”

Read more about Mr Trump’s latest meltdown in response to the betrayal of a former ally:

Trump rages at Bill Barr for saying ex-president would face criminal charges

Judge warns Trump he needs to lawyer up days before E Jean Carroll expected to file rape case

Thursday 24 November 2022 05:20 , John Bowden

A federal judge warned Donald Trump to decide on his lawyers, and fast, ahead of a coming suit from writer E Jean Carroll accusing Mr Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.

The warning came on Tuesday, during a conference in a defamation suit Ms Carroll filed after Mr Trump called the writer’s allegations, first aired in an excerpt of her memoir published in New York magazine, false and an attempt to drum up publicity.

“Your client has known this is coming for months, and he would be well-advised to decide who’s representing him in it,” US district judge Lewis Kaplan told Alina Habba, the former president’s attorney in the defamation case, on Tuesday.

Read more about the case’s new developments in The Independent:

Judge warns Trump he needs to lawyer up before expected E Jean Carroll rape case

Why do Democrats care about Donald Trump’s tax returns?

Thursday 24 November 2022 04:20 , John Bowden

The Supreme Court has dealt a final blow to Donald Trump in his years-long battle to shield his tax returns from Congress.

It was a victory for Democrats on an issue that seems almost antique now — the issue of Mr Trump’s finances took a back seat for many in the media and Democrats especially after January 6 and Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

With the House Ways and Means Committee now set to receive copies of Mr Trump’s tax returns from numerous years, it’s worth looking back to refresh our memories of exactly why those documents are so important.

Why do Democrats care about Donald Trump’s tax returns?

Tucker Carlson guest says shootings will continue until ‘evil agenda’ of gender affirming care ends

Thursday 24 November 2022 03:20 , John Bowden

Twitter users who came out in support of gay and transgender Americans reacted with shock and disgust after a guest on Tucker Carlon’s immensely popular Fox show claimed that more attacks like the Colorado Springs shooting would occur unless doctors ceased performing voluntary gender-affirming care for any American.

It was a moment viewed as a direct threat of violence by those who circulated the video on Twitter and came as some conservatives loudly protested being linked to the same rhetoric that is now blamed for inspiring the attack.

Read more about the right’s response to what is increasingly looking like the most violent act specifically targeting a gay community since the Pulse nightclub shooting:

Fox guest says shootings will continue until ‘evil agenda’ of transgender care ends