Closing summary
Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
A special purpose grand jury in Georgia that investigated Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election for nearly two years recommended bringing criminal charges against 21 people who ultimately were not charged, including the US senator Lindsey Graham, former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, as well as the influential conservative figure Cleta Mitchell.
Senator Graham said he was “totally surprised” to learn that a special grand jury recommended he face charges in the Georgia election subversion case. Speaking after the special purpose grand jury’s final report was unsealed, Graham defended his actions which he said were “consistent” with his job as a US senator.
Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, has lost his bid to move his Georgia election interference case from state to federal court, according to a court filing. Meadows faces two felony charges, including racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officer.
Former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she will be seeking re-election in 2024. The 83-year-old Democrat’s announcement comes amid several politically delicate moments on Capitol Hill, particularly as Democrats prepare to take back control of the House of Representatives.
The trial in the New York attorney general Letitia James’ $250m civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his family business will last nearly three months, the judge presiding over the case said. Trump overstated his net worth by as much as $3.6bn between 2011 and 2021, James said in a court filing on Friday.
Supreme court justice Samuel Alito rejected calls by Senate Democrats to have him recuse from a tax case that involves an attorney who interviewed him for a newspaper article and helped him “air his personal grievances”.
A federal appeals court stopped a lower court order that required Texas to remove a line of floating buoys that were placed in the middle of the Rio Grande to block migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border. The temporary stay puts on hold a ruling that would have required Texas to relocate the controversial buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river.
US district judge Steve C Jones, rejecting Mark Meadows’ bid to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court, wrote:
This Order addresses a relatively narrow question: Has Meadows carried his burden of demonstrating that removal of the State of Georgia’s criminal prosecution against him is proper under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)?
Having considered the arguments and evidence, the Court concludes that Meadows has not met his burden.
Updated
