Recap
Here’s what you need to know.
Trump faces four charges
The former president is accused of conspiring to defraud the United States government, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiring against rights, and obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
In the 45-page indictment, prosecutors laid out their case in stark detail, alleging Trump knowingly spread false allegations about fraud, convened false slates of electors and attempted to block the certification of the election on January 6.
The former president was “determined to remain in power”
Federal prosecutors said Trump was “determined to remain in power”. Prosecutors said that for two months after his election loss, Trump spread lies to create an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger” and “erode public faith in the administration of the election”. They cited an example in Georgia, where Trump claimed more than 10,000 dead people voted in four days even after the state’s top elections official told him that was not true.
There are six un-indicted co-conspirators
The indictment included six un-indicted co-conspirators as part of Smith’s inquiry, including four unnamed attorneys who allegedly aided Trump in his effort to subvert the 2020 election results, as well as an unnamed justice department official and an unnamed political consultant.
While unnamed in the document, the details in the indictment indicate that those people include Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Jeff Clark, a former Department of Justice employee.
The special counsel wants a speedy trial
It’s unclear yet when the case will go to trial, but Jack Smith said his office will seek speedy proceedings.
“I must emphasize that the indictment is only an allegation and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, in a court of law,” Smith said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Trump is looking at a complicated calendar for 2024. The former president’s trial in New York on criminal charges over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels will begin in March 2024. His criminal trial in Florida for retaining national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago property and obstructing the justice department’s efforts to retrieve them will take place in May 2024. The Iowa caucuses, the opening salvo in the Republican race for the 2024 presidential nomination, are scheduled to take place in January.
Indictments won’t disqualify Trump from office
Trump’s indictments will not bar him from seeking the presidency again, nor will any conviction.
However, it would be highly unusual for a thrice-indicted candidate to win the Republican presidential nomination. The only other presidential nominee to run under indictment in recent history is former Texas governor Rick Perry, who sought the 2016 Republican nomination after he was indicted for abuse of power. Another candidate, socialist party candidate Eugene Debs ran while imprisoned.
Trump’s indictment follows a path that the House January 6 committee laid.
The congressional panel, which was created to investigate the January 6 insurrection, concluded last December recommending criminal charges. In public hearings, some held at prime time, the investigators aired dramatic and damning footage, making the case that Trump “was directly responsible for summoning what became a violent mob” despite understanding that he’d lost the election.
The justice department received what the committee had uncovered, but conducted its own interviews and using its authority to gain key evidence that wasn’t easily accessible to Congress. The final charges against Trump include ones that the committee had recommended, including conspiracy to defraud the United States.
– Léonie Chao-Fong and Maanvi Singh
Updated
Trump’s indictment follows a path that the House January 6 committee laid.
The congressional panel, which was created to investigate the January 6 insurrection, concluded last December recommending criminal charges. Over the course of the investigation, the committee conducted more than 1,000 interviews, collected more than a million documents, and interviewed key witnesses. In public hearings, some held at prime time, the investigators aired dramatic and damning footage, making the case that Trump “was directly responsible for summoning what became a violent mob” despite understanding that he’d lost the election.
The Justice Department received what the committee had uncovered, but conducted its own interviews and using its authority to gain key evidence that wasn’t easily accessible to congress.
The final charges against Trump include ones that the committee had recommended, including conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Donald Trump case tracker: where does each investigation stand?
Twice impeached, twice arrested and now indicted three times. Donald Trump faces serious charges in New York and Florida over a hush-money scheme during the 2016 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents. And he faces an indictment by the justice department over his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
As Trump prepares for those cases to go to trial, the former president is simultaneously reeling from a verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation toward writer E Jean Carroll. A New York jury awarded Carroll, who accused Trump of assaulting her in 1996, $5m in damages.
And more criminal charges could be on the way for Trump in Georgia. Here is where each case against Trump stands:
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What kind of a sentence does Trump face?
Donald Trump has been charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing a congressional proceeding and conspiracy against rights in connection with an alleged a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
What does that mean? The first charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, while the second and third could be punished with 20 years. The conspiracy against rights carries a 10 year sentence.
However, there are no minimum or mandatory sentences for the charges. If Trump is found guilty, he could be sentenced to serve consecutive terms – which would mean decades in prison – but in general, federal penalties are rarely as high as the maximum possible sentence.
Updated
Here are some more reactions.
Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker:
“The charges alleged in this indictment are very serious, and they must play out through the legal process, peacefully and without any outside interference. Like every criminal defendant, the former President is innocent until proven guilty. Our Founders made clear that, in the United States of America, no one is above the law – not even the former President of the United States.
Michael Fanone, the former DC Police officer injured in the January 6 insurrection:
“I saw the Trump-fueled MAGA attack before my eyes. It was calculated, premeditated, and malicious. It disgusts me that House Republicans are heinously coming to the defense of Trump’s criminal behavior while putting up the foundation of our democracy as collateral.”
Updated
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, issued a joint statement characterizing this indictment as “the most serious and most consequential thus far”.
“The third indictment of Mr Trump illustrates in shocking detail that the violence of that day was the culmination of a months-long criminal plot led by the former president to defy democracy and overturn the will of the American people,” they said. “This indictment is the most serious and most consequential thus far and will stand as a stark reminder to generations of Americans that no one, including a president of the United States, is above the law.”
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Mike Pence, Trump’s vice-president, who was targeted by rioters on January 6 and is now running for president himself, said Trump candidacy would “distract” from other issues.
“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the constitution should never be president of the United States,” Pence said.
The court filing describes a conversation between “defendant” Trump and Pence during which the former president called his vice=president “too honest” for suggesting that interfering in the certification of the election would be illegal.
Updated
Trump’s indictments will not disqualify him from running for office, nor will any conviction.
However, it would highly unusual for a thrice-indicted candidate to win the Republican presidential nomination. The only other presidential nominee to run under indictment in recent history is former Texas governor Rick Perry, who sought the 2016 Republican nomination after he was indicted for abuse of power. Another candidate, the Socialist party candidate Eugene Debs, ran while imprisoned.
Trump has three indictments so far – the special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted him in the the January 6 case, has also charged him with the illegal retention of classified documents. Trump also was criminally charged in New York, over hush money payments, and in a civil trial over business practices. In Georgia, the Fulton county district attorney has been investigating Trump and his allies’ alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 results – and is expected to announce charging decisions this month.
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Trump’s rivals in the 2024 Republican primary have offered a range of responses to news of the indictment.
Ron DeSantis, who has tried to displace Trump as the frontrunner while trying to woo the former president’s far-right voter base, said, “As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans.
“While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment. I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts. Washington, DC is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the long-shot candidate Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, called for Trump to end his candidacy. “The latest indictment reaffirms my earlier call that Donald Trump should step away from the campaign for the good of the country,” he said. “If not, the voters must choose a different path.”
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Trump indicted in 2020 election interference probe – summary
A grand jury has indicted Donald Trump for multiple alleged crimes in connection with his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The indictment was filed by the special counsel Jack Smith in federal district court in Washington DC. It accuses the former president of charges including conspiring to defraud the United States government, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiring against rights and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
The 45-page indictment lays out in stark detail how Trump knowingly spread false allegations about fraud, convened false slates of electors and attempted to block the certification of the election on January 6.
Federal prosecutors said Trump was “determined to remain in power” in conspiracies that targeted a “bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election”.
Prosecutors said that for two months after his election loss, Trump spread lies to create an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger” and “erode public faith in the administration of the election”. They cited an example in Georgia, where Trump claimed more than 10,000 dead people voted in four days even after the state’s top elections official told him that was not true.
The indictment included six un-indicted co-conspirators as part of Smith’s probe, including four unnamed attorneys who allegedly aided Trump in his effort to subvert the 2020 election results, as well as an unnamed justice department official and an unnamed political consultant.
While unnamed in the document, the details in the indictment show that those people include Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Jeff Clark, a former Department of Justice employee.
The indictment filed this evening is the third criminal case filed against the former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential race.
In a lengthy statement issued as the indictment was released, Trump’s campaign called the indictment “nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter” in what it characterized as a politically motivated “witch hunt”.
Updated
Special counsel Jack Smith to seek a 'speedy trial' and says January 6 'fueled by lies'
Special counsel Jack Smith has delivered remarks regarding his investigation into Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Smith encouraged everyone to read the full indictment and said the department of justice has “remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened” on 6 January 2021.
He described the January 6 insurrection as “an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy” that was “fueled by lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government admissions process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election”.
The men and women of law enforcement who defended the US Capitol that day “are heroes, they’re patriots and they’re the very best of us”, Smith said.
He said his office will seek a speedy trial so that the evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens.
Smith added:
I must emphasize that the indictment is only an allegation and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, in a court of law.
Updated
Trump 2020 election indictment — conspiracy to defraud: Special Counsel charges Trump with enlisting six co-conspirators to use false claims of election fraud to get state legislators to subvert the 2020 election https://t.co/prZhOLzl1v
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 1, 2023
Trump and conspirators organized fake slates in 7 states AZ GA MI NV NM PA WI; Trump and conspirators attempted to use power of DOJ to conduct “sham election crime investigations” in targeted states to advance fake electors plan
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 1, 2023
Trump and conspirators attempted to enlist VP Pence to use ceremonial role to use the fake slates, reject legitimate slates or send legitimate slates back to state instead of counting them — when that failed, on Jan. 6, Trump repeated false fraud claims to obstruct certification
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 1, 2023
The Trump case has been assigned to US district judge Tanya S Chutkan, according to the court docket.
Chutkan, an Obama appointee, is the only federal judge in Washington who has sentenced January 6 defendants to sentences longer than the government had requested, according to NBC.
Updated
Special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled to give a statement at 6pm EST at his office in Washington, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Read the full indictment
Updated
Indictment includes six co-conspirators
The indictment lists six co-conspirators but does not name them. They are:
Co-Conspirator 1: An attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not.
Co-Conspirator 2: An attorney who devised and attempted to implement a strategy to leverage the Vice President’s ceremonial role overseeing certification proceeding to obstruct the certification of the presidential election.
Co-Conspirator 3: An attorney whose unfounded claims of election fraud the Defendant privately acknowledged to others sounded “crazy.” Nonetheless, the Defendant embraced and publicly amplified Co-Conspirator 3’s disinformation.
Co-Conspirator 4: A Justice Department official who worked on civil matters and who, with the Defendant, attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election crime investigations and influence state legislatures with knowingly false claims of election fraud.
Co-Conspirator 5: An attorney who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.
Co-Conspirator 6: A political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins writes that the co-conspirator 1 will likely be Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s attorney at the time in the wake of his 2020 presidential election loss.
While he is not named and has not gotten a target letter yet, it is clear Rudy Giuliani is co-conspirator 1 in the indictment, given it cites a conversation Rusty Bowers had with Giuliani, including having no evidence but "lots of theories."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 1, 2023
Politico’s Kyle Cheney writes that the second co-conspirator appears to be John Eastman, who was in the vanguard of lawyers plotting schemes involving “fake electors” and other ploys to help Trump thwart Joe Biden’s win in 2020.
Coconspirator 5 appears to be Ken Chesebro pic.twitter.com/fOdPbFECVK
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 1, 2023
Trump summoned to appear in court on Thursday
Donald Trump has been summoned to appear before a federal magistrate judge on Thursday in Washington, after the former president was charged by the justice department for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is expected to be arraigned at the DC district court before magistrate judge Moxila A Upadhyaya.
Trump indicted on four charges
Donald Trump has been indicted on four counts involved with trying to overturn the 2020 election by special counsel Jack Smith.
The former president faces the charges:
Conspiracy to Defraud the United States
Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding
Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding
Conspiracy Against Rights
The indictment lists six co-conspirators but does not name them: four attorneys, a justice department official and a political consultant.
You can read the full indictment here.
Donald Trump indicted over efforts to overturn 2020 presidential election
A federal grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election has voted to indict the former president, according to a court document.
Smith has been looking into Trump’s efforts to remain in office following his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, including the deadly 6 January 2021 riot in which his supporters overran the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Trump is already facing criminal charges in Florida for illegally hoarding classified documents from his presidency, and prosecution in New York for a hush-money payment to an adult movie star. He is also expected to face state charges in Georgia over Trump’s efforts there to reverse his defeat to Biden in the 2020 election.
Trump currently leads in polling for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination by a wide margin.
Donald Trump has been informed he has been indicted by a federal grand jury regarding the special counsel’s probe into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sources with direct knowledge have told ABC News.
Breaking from @ABC @KFaulders @Santucci: Former President Trump has been informed he has been indicted by a federal grand jury regarding the special counsel’s probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News.
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) August 1, 2023
Updated
The Trump campaign released a statement on the indictment returned by the federal grand jury hearing evidence in the special counsel’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The indictment does not include the number of defendants or the identity of any defendant, as we have already reported.
This is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins.
But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?
The answer is, election interference! The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes. President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys.
These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before.
Three years ago we had strong borders, energy independence, no inflation, and a great economy. Today, we are a nation in decline. President Trump will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting!
Updated
A judge agreed to seal the indictment returned by the grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
There was no information given in court about the number of defendants or the identity of any defendant.
A new sealed criminal case appeared on the DC federal court docket, Reuters’ Brad Heath reports.
A new sealed criminal case appeared on the DC federal court docket within the past few minutes. It's No. 23-cr-257.
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) August 1, 2023
Indictment issued in Trump 2020 election interference investigation but judge seals content
The federal grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election has handed up an indictment in the federal courthouse.
The indictment was sealed. From Politico’s Josh Gerstein:
BREAKING: A grand jury just returned an indictment against a defendant who was not identified publicly even by initials or grand jury number. Was put under seal. A prosecutor who handles Jan. 6 matters, Molly Gaston, submitted what is believed to be Trump indictment.
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) August 1, 2023
Updated
The grand jury foreperson is in the magistrate judge’s courtroom.
The grand jury foreperson, the only one needed to return an indictment, is in the courtroom.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 1, 2023
Prosecutors have entered the Washington DC courthouse and a new “grand jury returns” has been added to the docket, Politico’s Kyle Cheney writes.
UPDATE: It’s happening. Prosecutors have entered the courtroom and a new “grand jury returns” has been added to the docket.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 1, 2023
So the news outlets heard about a 5pm press conference at DOJ, news outlets relayed that to Trumpworld, Trump believed the news outlets, says “I hear” I’m going to be indicted at 5pm
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 1, 2023
Staff at the Washington DC federal court have returned to the magistrate judge’s courtroom, CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane writes.
Courtroom staff has returned to magistrate judge’s courtroom. Room is filling again.
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 1, 2023
Donald Trump says he expects to be indicted today over attempts to overturn 2020 election
Donald Trump said he expects to be indicted at 5pm EST today as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump posted to Truth Social:
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 favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M. 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!
Updated
Donald Trump and his advisers spent yesterday and this morning reportedly preparing for a potential indictment to be filed in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump is expected to release a statement on Truth Social if he is informed of an indictment in the case, sources told CNN.
The Trump campaign has lined up surrogates, influencers and allies to immediately respond to new charges should they be filed, and have also prepared a series of pre-written statements and videos defending Trump’s actions in the lead up to and on January 6, that they plan to send to supporters, according to the report.
A Trump adviser told the news channel:
We have a lot of products and content ready to go pushing back on the Jan. 6 stuff, not unlike what we’ve done before.
The grand jury convened by special counsel Jack Smith to investigate efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election have concluded for the day.
The atmosphere in the Washington courthouse remains tense, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney, with reporters jammed in the hallway hoping to catch sight of movement from the grand jury room.
The courthouse atrium is cavernous and you can see when people traverse some of the 3rd floor hallways, so the parlor game among reporters is to try and be in the right place to catch the first glimpse of prosecutors and/or the grand jury foreman heading to magistrate courtroom.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 1, 2023
Updated
Last year, the Guardian’s Sam Levine traveled to Michigan to report on the ultimately unsuccessful bid by Matthew DePerno to become the state’s attorney general. DePerno was a denier of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, and today was one of two people charged with crime related to tampering with voting machines. Here’s Sam’s report from last year, when Donald Trump arrived to endorse DePerno’s candidacy:
Eight hours before Donald Trump took the stage in the Detroit suburbs on Saturday, an army of canvassers darted along the line of people snaking outside the hulking sports complex where supporters of the former president were waiting to get in. “You guys think we’re gonna have a fair election?,” one canvasser asked Marco Braggion, 26 and Christian Howard, 25, who was standing in a cowboy hat and jean jacket. “We need to be able to work those polls to keep eyes on what’s going on.”
It was an exchange that underscored how Republicans, stewing in doubts about the 2020 election, are organizing to take control of the machinery of elections – how ballots are cast and counted. And when Trump took the stage Saturday evening, his first visit to Michigan since 2020, that’s what he was focused on too. He was there to campaign for two-little known candidates who are seeking offices that wield significant power over voting rules in Michigan, one of the most important battleground states in the presidential election.
Trump was stumping for Matthew DePerno, who is seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general, and Kristina Karamo, a Republican running to be Michigan secretary of state, the state’s chief election official. Both are seeking to earn the Republican nomination at the party’s convention in the state this month.
Neither has any prior political experience and their political rise stems almost entirely from their efforts to spread misinformation about the 2020 election. Joe Biden defeated Trump in the state by just over 154,000 votes in 2020, and Trump’s efforts to throw out the election were unsuccessful. If Karamo and DePerno were elected this fall, it would place two Trump allies in key positions from which they could potentially do what he could not in 2020: overturn an election result.
“Remember this is not just about 2022, this is about making sure Michigan is not rigged and stolen in 2024,” Trump said in a meandering hour and forty-five minute speech in which he repeatedly insisted, falsely, that he won Michigan in 2020. “I have to be honest, I don’t do this often for state people, this is so important. What happened in Michigan, it’s a disgrace.”
Trump allies face charges in Michigan for tampering with 2020 election voting machines
Two Republican allies of Donald Trump in Michigan, including an ex-state lawmaker and a former candidate for attorney general, are facing charges over tampering with voting machines used in the 2020 election, the Associated Press reports.
A blue-leaning swing state, Trump managed to carry Michigan when he won the White House in 2016, while Joe Biden claimed it, and the presidency, in 2020. Trump then worked with local Republicans in an unsuccessful attempt to use an alternate slate of electors to stop Biden from claiming the state’s electoral votes. Last month, Michigan’s Democratic attorney general Dana Nessel charged 16 of those electors with felonies related to their participation in the scheme.
Here’s more on the latest criminal fallout from the 2020 election, as told by the AP:
Matthew DePerno, a Republican lawyer who was endorsed by Trump in an unsuccessful run for Michigan attorney general last year, was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy, according to Oakland County court records.
Daire Rendon, a former Republican state representative, was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses.
Both were arraigned remotely Tuesday afternoon, according to Richard Lynch, the court administrator for Oakland County’s 6th Circuit.
Those charged in Michigan are the latest facing legal consequences for alleged crimes committed after embracing Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
The charges come as the former president is investigated for election interference in Georgia. Separately, Trump said in mid-July that he is a target of a federal investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
DePerno, whose name was incorrectly listed as “DeParno,” in court records, was named as a “prime instigator” in the case. He could not be reached by phone immediately for comment but has previously denied wrongdoing and has accused the state attorney general of “weaponizing her office.”
Five vote tabulators were taken from three counties in Michigan to a hotel room, according to documents released last year by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office. Investigators found that the tabulators were broken into and “tests” were performed on the equipment. They said that DePerno was there.
If Donald Trump is indicted over the January 6 insurrection or the plot to meddle in the 2020 election, the decision will be made in the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, situated just a short walk from the Capitol in Washington DC:
Harris rejects DeSantis invitation to hash out differences over teaching slavery
Meanwhile in Florida, Kamala Harris has rejected an invitation from Republican governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis to discuss the state’s controversial African-American studies curriculum, which will teach students that enslaved people learned some useful skills.
The vice-president’s comments came during her appearance at the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention in Orlando. Here’s what Harris had to say:
"I'm here in Florida and I will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact: There were no redeeming qualities of slavery."
— The Recount (@therecount) August 1, 2023
— VP Harris responds to Gov. DeSantis (R-FL) inviting her to discuss Black history standards pic.twitter.com/flLsGuP1Lo
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CNN’s federal court watchers picked up on a detail that may or may not be significant as we await whether special counsel Jack Smith will indict Donald Trump over the 2020 election meddling campaign.
The federal grand jury’s foreman appears to have not departed the Washington DC courthouse where they were sitting:
Federal grand jury in Jan. 6 probe leaves the courthouse; foreman stays behind, CNN team in courthouse reports. Unclear if they voted on an indictment
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 1, 2023
Grand juries are made up of citizens summoned by federal prosecutors to go over evidence and hear from witnesses before voting on whether to approve an indictment.
Trump preparing for indictment - report
Donald Trump and his advisers have spent today and Monday preparing for his potential indictment over the campaign to overturn the 2020 election, CNN reports:
Trump and his advisers spent Monday and Tuesday morning preparing for an indictment to be filed in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with their plans tell CNN.
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 1, 2023
The Trump campaign has lined up surrogates, influencers and allies to immediately respond to new charges once they are filed, and have also prepared a series of pre-written statements and videos defending the former president's actions in the lead up to and on January 6, 2021
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 1, 2023
Meanwhile, NBC News reports grand jurors empaneled by special counsel Jack Smith for his investigation have left the Washington DC courthouse where they were sitting:
The grand jury appears to have left for the day https://t.co/uIuJrMd5mE
— Daniel Barnes (@dnlbrns) August 1, 2023
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Former Georgia state senator Jen Jordan received subpoenas to testify before a grand jury investigating Donald Trump for his actions in the wake of his 2020 election defeat.
The subpoenas to Jordan, reported by CNN, and independent journalist George Chidi are the strongest indication yet that Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis intends to seek indictments in her criminal investigation.
In an interview over the weekend, Willis reemphasized her plans to announce charging decisions by 1 September. “We’re ready to go,” she told WXIA. Willis has previously signaled that she would make any charging announcements between 31 July and the end of August.
Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis invited vice president Kamala Harris to Florida amid their ongoing feud over the state’s new African American history curriculum.
Harris visited Florida last month where she decried the state board of education’s controversial new standards for Black history, which include the contention that some Black people benefited from being enslaved.
In a letter published on Monday, DeSantis invited Harris to meet with him in Tallahassee, the state’s capital, while accusing the Biden-Harris administration of having “repeatedly disparaged our state and misinformed Americans” about the state’s Black history standards.
DeSantis wrote:
In Florida we are unafraid to have an open and honest dialogue about the issues. And you clearly have no trouble ducking down to Florida on short notice. So given your grave concern (which, I must assume, is sincere) about what you think our standards say, I am officially inviting you back down to Florida to discuss our African American History standards.
“It’s past time to set the record straight.”@GovRonDeSantis is inviting @VP to Florida to discuss our new African American history standards with him and Dr. Allen.
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) August 1, 2023
Read Governor DeSantis’ letter below: pic.twitter.com/o2W69iJ5il
New Jersey lieutenant governor Sheila Oliver, who made history as the state’s first Black woman to serve in a statewide elected office, died aged 71 on Tuesday, according to her family.
In a statement, the Oliver family said:
She was not only a distinguished public servant but also our cherished daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and hero.
Sheila Y. Oliver leaves behind a legacy of dedication, service, and inspiration. We will remember her commitment to the people of New Jersey and her tireless efforts to uplift the community.
Oliver had been serving as acting governor of New Jersey while governor Phil Murphy was on vacation.
But Oliver was hospitalized this week for unspecified “medical care”, Murphy’s communications director said in a statement on Monday. Senate president Nicholas Scutari took over as acting governor when Oliver was rushed to the hospital.
Tammy and I, and our children, are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend, colleague, and partner in government, @LtGovOliver.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) August 1, 2023
We ask that you all keep the Oliver family and all those who loved her in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/ty6drz7DgY
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The day so far
Grand jurors are meeting again at a federal courthouse in Washington DC, as special counsel Jack Smith edges toward announcing charges over the January 6 insurrection, potentially against Donald Trump. There’s no saying when a decision will be made or who will be indicted, but Smith has told Trump he is a target of the investigation. The legal trouble – which would be Trump’s third indictment, if it happens – appears not to have dented his standing with Republicans, nor even his general election prospects. A new poll out today shows Trump and Joe Biden tied in the general election, which would be bad news for Democrats, if it holds.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
The White House and Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville are squabbling on Twitter over the Republican lawmaker’s blockade of military promotions.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is expected to be constructed by the end of the year, the firm behind the controversial natural gas pipeline announced.
Trump and Biden’s general election tie is a sign Democrats need to get to work, a top political analyst said.
Here’s more from the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly on Donald Trump’s money problems, and how the Republican presidential frontrunner is trying to turn the situation around:
Burning through campaign funds thanks to mounting legal fees, Donald Trump has been forced to recall $60m from a Super Pac, money originally intended for TV advertising in the Republican presidential primary.
In filings with the Federal Election Commission FEC) on Monday, Trump’s political action committee, Save America, said that at the end of June it had less than $4m cash on hand, having paid tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for the former president and associates.
Trump faces 40 criminal charges over his retention of classified documents after leaving office; 34 criminal charges over hush-money payments to a porn star in 2016; the imminent prospect of federal and state charges over his election subversion; ongoing proceedings involving the writer E Jean Carroll, to whom he was ordered to pay $5m after being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation; and assorted investigations of his business affairs.
University of Virginia political guru Larry Sabato took a look at the New York Times/Siena College poll released today, and what he found does not look good for Democrats:
Biden & Trump are tied. This almost certainly means a Trump majority in the Electoral College. Exactly what is needed to cure Dem overconfidence—and there’s a lot of it. Low D turnout and defections to other parties/independents could produce another 2016. https://t.co/f9TEbeH2WW
— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) August 1, 2023
The firm behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline said today that it expects work on the controversial natural gas conduit to be completed by the end of the year.
In an earnings release, Equitrans Midstream said action by Congress and the supreme court had cleared the way for construction of the pipeline, which had been repeatedly held up by lawsuits and local opposition from environmentalists concerned about its role in the climate crisis.
“We are grateful for the full support of the White House, as well as the strong leadership of Democratic and Republican legislators in recognizing the MVP as a critical energy infrastructure project,” the company’s chairman and CEO Thomas F. Karam said.
“We are also thankful that the U.S. Supreme Court acted quickly to grant the application to vacate stays imposed by the lower court. We have resumed construction and are focused on the responsible completion of MVP’s remaining construction. We continue to target completion of MVP by year-end 2023.”
Language intended to end the court battle over the pipeline was inserted in compromise legislation Joe Biden signed in June to raise the US debt ceiling while cutting some government spending.
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Reuters, meanwhile, reports that the White House denies Alabama’s strict abortion restrictions were behind its decision to cancel US Space Command’s move to the state.
“Alabama’s restrictive reproductive care laws were not a factor in this decision. … The most significant factor considered was operational readiness during a critical time in this dynamic security environment,” a White House official told Reuters.
Abortions are banned in Alabama except in a few limited circumstances, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
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The White House is currently a much quieter place than usual, since Joe Biden is on vacation in Delaware. But someone is manning its Twitter account, and has opted this morning to troll Republican senator Tommy Tuberville.
You may remember him for his ongoing blockade of military promotions over the Pentagon’s moves to assist service members in obtaining abortions. Yesterday, he insisted his campaign was not hurting military readiness:
All of these jobs are being done.
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) July 31, 2023
My holds are NOT affecting national security. https://t.co/hhXcD4gxQV
To which the White House has responded:
This you? https://t.co/rdGU61sepC pic.twitter.com/dLdEXWR2sX
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 1, 2023
The 2024 election will also decide control of the Senate, where Republicans are currently viewed as having a good shot at retaking the majority.
Joe Biden’s allies can afford to lose only one seat in the chamber, but three Democrats representing red states will be up for re-election: Joe Manchin of West Virginia (who has not said if he will run again), Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio (both of whom say they will run again). All face tough roads to keeping their seats.
Then there’s the possibility that the GOP could oust a Democrat representing a swing state, such as Wisconsin. Democratic senator Tammy Baldwin is up for re-election there, but in something of a setback for Republicans, Tom Tiffany announced today that he has decided to run for re-election in the House of Representatives rather than challenge Baldwin, as some in the GOP hoped he would do:
I am running for reelection in Wisconsin’s Seventh District as first announced on @DanODonnellShow. pic.twitter.com/3vaRXDSFdG
— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) August 1, 2023
Biden, Trump neck-in-neck in general election poll
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are tied in a New York Times/Siena College poll released today, while the president has consolidated his support among Democrats.
A caveat before we get into the numbers: the November 2024 election is more than a year away, and will likely be decided by a handful of swing states, particularly Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona. So for all the headlines this poll might generate, keep in mind that things can change dramatically between then and now.
Back to the Times/Siena data, it finds Biden and Trump tied with 43% support if the presidential election were held today. But it also indicates many Democrats have gotten over their hesitancy towards Biden. Last year, two-thirds wanted a different candidate, but now, that number has dropped to about half.
Here’s more on the numbers, from the Times:
Still, warning signs abound for the president: Despite his improved standing and a friendlier national environment, Mr. Biden remains broadly unpopular among a voting public that is pessimistic about the country’s future, and his approval rating is a mere 39 percent.
Perhaps most worryingly for Democrats, the poll found Mr. Biden in a neck-and-neck race with former President Donald J. Trump, who held a commanding lead among likely Republican primary voters even as he faces two criminal indictments and more potential charges on the horizon. Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump were tied at 43 percent apiece in a hypothetical rematch in 2024, according to the poll.
Mr. Biden has been buoyed by voters’ feelings of fear and distaste toward Mr. Trump. Well over a year before the election, 16 percent of those polled had unfavorable views of both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, a segment with which Mr. Biden had a narrow lead.
“Donald Trump is not a Republican, he’s a criminal,” said John Wittman, 42, a heating and air conditioning contractor from Phoenix. A Republican, he said that even though he believed Mr. Biden’s economic stewardship had hurt the country, “I will vote for anyone on the planet that seems halfway capable of doing the job, including Joe Biden, over Donald Trump.”
To borrow an old political cliché, the poll shows that Mr. Biden’s support among Democrats is a mile wide and an inch deep. About 30 percent of voters who said they planned to vote for Mr. Biden in November 2024 said they hoped Democrats would nominate someone else. Just 20 percent of Democrats said they would be enthusiastic if Mr. Biden were the party’s 2024 presidential nominee; another 51 percent said they would be satisfied but not enthusiastic.
A higher share of Democrats, 26 percent, expressed enthusiasm for the notion of Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee in 2024.
Joe Biden is taking a summer vacation after several months in which things seemed to increasingly come together for the American president. Over the weekend, the Guardian’s David Smith looked at this administration’s recent hot streak – as well as the challenges he faces in the year to come:
It was the word that the far right of the Republican party most wanted to hear. Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House of Representatives, said this week his colleagues’ investigations of Joe Biden are rising to the level of an “impeachment” inquiry.
Republicans in Congress admit that they do not yet have any direct evidence of wrongdoing by the US president. But, critics say, there is a simple explanation why they would float the ultimate sanction: they need to put Biden’s character on trial because their case against his policies is falling apart.
Heading into next year’s presidential election, Republicans have been readying a three-pronged attack: crime soaring in cities, chaos raging at the southern border and prices spiralling out of control everywhere. But each of these narratives is being disrupted by facts on the ground: crime is falling in most parts of the country, there is relative calm at the border and inflation is at a two-year low.
Donald Trump’s legal problems may be formidable, but as the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports, so, too, is his popularity among Republicans:
Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton county, Georgia, is “ready to go” with indictments in her investigation of Donald Trump’s election subversion. In Washington, the special counsel Jack Smith is expected to add charges regarding election subversion to 40 counts already filed over the former president’s retention of classified records.
Trump already faces 34 criminal charges in New York over hush-money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels. Referring to Trump being ordered to pay $5m after being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation against the writer E Jean Carroll, a judge recently said Carroll proved Trump raped her. Lawsuits over Trump’s business affairs continue.
Yet a month out from the first debate of the Republican presidential primary, Trump’s domination of the field increases with each poll.
Trump's legal troubles leaving campaign broke – report
Donald Trump’s multiplying legal troubles are taking a toll on his campaign finances as he spends more and more on lawyers, the New York Times reports.
Trump’s Pac, Save America, has less than $4m in its account, down from the $105m it began last year with, the Times reports, citing federal records. So bad have its finances become that it has requested back $60m that it sent to a pro-Trump Super Pac, Make America Great Again Inc, which was supposed to spend the money on television ads.
Since the start of the year, Trump has been indicted by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg on state charges of falsifying business records, and by special counsel Jack Smith for breaking federal law by allegedly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, and by conspiring to keep them out of the hands of government archivists.
Trump has been told Smith may bring new charges against him related to his involvement in the January 6 insurrection, while, in Georgia, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis said she will announce indictments in her investigation of Trump and his allies’ attempt to overturn the 2020 election sometime before September. The stage is set for Trump to continue paying huge legal fees for months, but he has one good thing going for him: his massive lead among Republican presidential candidates, which potentially could alleviate some of the damage done if he has to pullback on campaign spending.
Here’s more on his dire finances, from the Times:
The super PAC, which is called Make America Great Again Inc., has already sent back $12.25 million to the group paying Mr. Trump’s legal bills, according to federal records — a sum nearly as large as the $13.1 million the super PAC raised from donors in the first half of 2023. Those donations included $1 million from the father of his son-in-law, Charles Kushner, whom Mr. Trump pardoned for federal crimes in his final days as president, and $100,000 from a candidate seeking Mr. Trump’s endorsement.
The extraordinary shift of money from the super PAC to Mr. Trump’s political committee, described in federal campaign filings as a refund, is believed to be larger than any other refund on record in the history of federal campaigns.
It comes as Mr. Trump’s political and legal fate appear increasingly intertwined. The return of money from the super PAC, which Mr. Trump does not control, to his political action committee, which he does, demonstrates how his operation is balancing dueling priorities: paying lawyers and supporting his political candidacy through television ads.
Save America, Mr. Trump’s political action committee, is prohibited by law from directly spending money on his candidacy. When Save America donated $60 million last year to Mr. Trump’s super PAC — which is permitted to spend on his campaign — it effectively evaded that prohibition.
It is not clear from the filing exactly when the refund was requested, but the super PAC did not return the money all at once. It gave back $1 million on May 1; $5 million more on May 9; another $5 million on June 1; and $1.25 million on June 30. These returns followed Mr. Trump’s two indictments this year: one in Manhattan in March, and one last month in federal court.
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Federal grand jury considering charging Trump over January 6 reconvenes ahead of potential indictment
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The wait continues to find out whether special counsel Jack Smith will indict Donald Trump over his involvement in the January 6 insurrection, and there are signs this morning a decision could come soon. CNN spotted grand jurors arriving at a federal courthouse in Washington DC where they’re considering evidence in the case, but there’s no telling when a decision could come.
Signs that Trump could be charged have been mounting. Last week, the former president said he had received a target letter from Smith, a step typically taken before someone is indicted. And yesterday, Trump said he expected charges to be filed “any day now”. But the winding legal saga has yet to dent his standing in the GOP, or even in the presidential race at large. New polling from the New York Times shows him crushing every other Republican candidate in the presidential nomination race, and tied with Joe Biden in the general election.
Here’s what else is happening today:
Kamala Harris is heading to Orlando to address the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention at 2.15pm eastern time. We’ll keep an eye open if she reiterates her criticism of Florida’s new Ron DeSantis-backed school curriculum, which implies that slavery wasn’t so bad.
Biden, meanwhile, continues his beach vacation in Delaware. He has no public events scheduled.
Alabama lawmakers are raging over Biden’s decision to cancel US Space Command’s planned move to the state, Punchbowl News reports. The decision came amid Republican senator Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing blockade of military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
