Steve Bannon ‘stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket,’ New York attorney general says – as it happened

Steve Bannon arrives to surrender at the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York on Thursday morning. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA

9.13pm BST

Closing summary

We’re closing the US politics blog now. A hugely hectic day saw Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to Donald Trump, arrested and arraigned on fraud charges relating to fundraising for the former president’s border wall.

In New York’s supreme court this afternoon, Bannon pleaded not guilty to six felony counts and was released without bail until next month.

Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said Bannon “cheated everyday Americans” and “basically stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket”.

Here’s what else we followed:

• Presidents past and present led US tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, who died this afternoon aged 96. Joe Biden said she was “more than a monarch. She defined an era”.

• The department of justice appealed a Florida judge’s controversial ruling agreeing to Donald Trump’s demand for a ‘special master’ in its investigation into the former president’s handling of classified materials.

• The Biden administration formally reversed the Trump-era “public charge” rule that barred immigrants from gaining legal residency if they had utilized certain government benefits.

• First lady Jill Biden named a new press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia, most recently communications director for California Democratic senator Alex Padilla.

9.01pm BST

Justice department appeals 'special master' ruling

The department of justice is appealing a Florida judge’s controversial ruling agreeing to Donald Trump’s demand for a ‘special master’ in its investigation into the former president’s handling of classified materials.

District court judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled on Monday that a special master was necessary to review classified documents taken by FBI agents from Trump’s Palm Beach mansion, Mar-a-Lago, during an 8 August search.

Justice Department appeals federal judge’s ruling for a special master in Trump Mar-a-Lago case pic.twitter.com/iCOVvwL2zX

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 8, 2022

The decision temporarily blocks the department from using for investigative purposes thousands of records seized, which the Washington Post reported on Wednesday included nuclear secrets of an unnamed foreign power.

William Barr, attorney general during the Trump administration, called Cannon’s decision flawed.

Cannon directed Trump’s attorneys and lawyers for the department to submit by Friday a list of names to be considered as a special master by Friday. The role is often filled by a lawyer or former judge.

The justice department filed notice of appeal Thursday, saying it was contesting the ruling to the Atlanta-based 11th US circuit court of appeals.