Summary of the day
Today, Biden delivered an impassioned speech ahead of the third anniversary of January 6. Speaking at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, near Valley Forge, Biden asked the question, “is democracy still America’s sacred cause?”, underscoring his 2024 campaign’s theme of the importance of preserving democracy.
In his speech, Biden also condemned all forms of political violence, recounting not just the 6 Jan insurrection, when the US capitol was attacked by an angry mob ahead of Biden’s inauguration, but other incidents such as the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Democratic house speaker Nanci Pelosi, who was beat with a hammer in their San Francisco home.
“Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States,” Biden said. “It has no place in a democracy. You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American.”
Due to his role in the 6 January insurrection, Trump has been removed from GOP primary ballots in two states: Colorado and Maine. But conservative supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh will “step up” for the former president against efforts to remove him from ballots, a Trump lawyer has said. On Friday, the US supreme court agreed to consider whether Trump could be deemed ineligible to run for federal office again because of his actions. Trump remains the Republican frontrunner in national polls ahead of Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
Ahead of his trial on corruption charges, the longtime National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre will leave his post, the gun rights association announced on Friday. LaPierre and other executives stand accused of illegally diverting tens of millions of dollars from the NRA and spending organization funds on personal trips and other questionable expenditures.
The Iowa caucus is a mere 10 days away. In an interview following an Iowa town hall with NBC’s Dasha Burns and the Des Moines Register, the Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley expressed regret yet again for botching answers to questions about race. First, she apologized for not mentioning slavery when discussing the civil war in a town hall earlier this week. But in her apology, she said she assumed slavery was a given in any conversation about the civil war and that she “had Black friends growing up”. Burns told Haley her response was criticized as tokenism or a trope. The issue brought to the forefront the role race will play in this election. Not only would Haley be the first female president, but the first south Asian president.
That’s it for this liveblog. Thanks for reading.
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In the same NBC interview, Haley was questioned on botching her responses to questions surrounding race.
Haley again made clear she should have mentioned slavery when answering a question about the US civil war posed to her in a town hall earlier this week, rather than saying the war was primarily about “the role of government and what the rights of the people are”.
In a CNN town hall after the incident, Haley slipped up again. Backtracking on her previous comments about the civil war, Haley said: “I should have said slavery right off the bat. When you grow up in South Carolina, literally in second and third grade, you learn about slavery. You grow up and you have – I had Black friends growing up.”
“In South Carolina ... you grow up ... you know, I had Black friends growing up. It is a very talked-about thing.”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2024
— Nikki Haley at a CNN town hall says she “should have said slavery” in her viral response to a question about the Civil War, but said in her mind, “that’s a given” pic.twitter.com/lPCkRAbPLL
Haley’s comments were condemned as tokenism.
When asked about the two gaffes in conversation about race, Haley told NBC’s Dasha Burns “how hard it was to grow up in the deep south a as a brown girl”.
She recalled the isolating experience of being the only Indian family to grow up in their small town in South Carolina. She recounted a story when she was excluded from a beauty pageant for not being white or Black.
“Saying that I had Black friends is a source of pride.”
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Historically a fervent supporter of the former president, it’s a sharp turn from Haley’s position in recent years.
In 2021, Haley said she would not run against Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Haley said she had “a great working relationship” with Trump when she was his envoy to the UN.
But today, the story is different. This week, Haley told an Iowa audience that Trump would bring “four more years of chaos” and that the US “won’t survive” another Trump term.
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In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was told her home state of South Carolina is “Trump country”, according to polls.
Haley disagrees. “If you want to say Trump is going to win South Carolina, I’m fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Asked if she thinks she will survive this race if she loses, Haley responds confidently: “I will survive and win this race.”
Haley made it clear that she doesn’t want Trump removed from ballots and wants to beat him “fair and square”. So far, Trump has been removed from GOP primary ballots in two states – Colorado and Maine.
“I want to beat him because I don’t think he’s the right person to go forward.”
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After Joe Biden finished his remarks, Jill Biden came out on stage to give him a hug.
“I understand power,” the president said into the microphone, with a smile. The couple lingered on stage for a few minutes and then departed.
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As he concluded his speech, Joe Biden depicted Donald Trump as an ordeal the country must make its way through.
“This the first national election since the January 6 insurrection placed a dagger in the throat of American democracy, since that moment. We all know Donald Trump is a question we have to answer … that’s what’s at stake. In your head, as you talk to your family and friends, cast your ballots, the power is in your hands,” Biden said.
“There’s no country in the world better positioned to lead the world than America. That’s why I’ve said it many times. That’s why I’ve never been more optimistic about our future and I’ve been doing this a hell of a long time,” said Biden, who, at 81, is the oldest president ever to serve.
Biden says defending democracy will remain 'a central cause of my presidency'
Joe Biden is now shifting away from directly attacking Donald Trump to outlining his own policies, saying he will prioritize defending democracy for the rest of his presidency.
“I make this sacred pledge to you. The defense, protection, preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, a central cause of my presidency,” Biden said.
He continued:
America, as we began this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot. Yes, we’ll be voting on many issues and the freedom to vote and have your vote counted. The freedom of choice. Freedom to have a fair shot. A freedom from fear. We will debate, disagree. Without democracy, no progress is possible. Think about it. The alternative to democracy is dictatorship.
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Biden says Trump will launch 'assault on democracy' if re-elected
Joe Biden has warned that Donald Trump plans to launch an “assault on democracy” if returned to the White House.
“Trump’s assault on democracy isn’t just part of his past. It’s what he’s promising for the future. He’s been straightforward. He’s not hiding the ball,” the president said.
“His first rally for the 2024 campaign opened with a choir of January 6 insurrectionists singing from prison on cellphone, while images of the January 6 riot playing on the big screen behind him,” Biden continued. “This is like something out of a fairy tale.”
He continued: “Trump began his 2024 campaign by glorifying the failed violent insurrection … on our Capitol. The guy who claims law and order stands for lawlessness and disorder. Trump’s not concerned about your future, I promise you. Trump is now promising a full scale campaign of revenge and retribution, his words, for some years to come.”
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Biden reminded voters of the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of the then Democratic speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
“Trump and his Maga supporters not only embrace political violence, but they laugh about,” Biden said. At his rally, he jokes about an intruder whipped up by the big Trump lie, taking a hammer to Paul Pelosi’s skull and echoing the very same word used on January 6 … he thinks that’s funny.”
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'Can't be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American,' Biden says
After recounting the violence of January 6 and Donald Trump’s failure to overturn his election victory, Joe Biden issued a strong denouncement of political violence.
“Trump won’t do what an American president must do. He refuses to denounce political violence,” Biden said. “Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States.”
“It has no place in a democracy,” he continued. “You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American.”
In previous months, Biden’s speeches have focused on his administration’s accomplishments.
This speech, his first of the year, marks a change in tack, with the president taking direct aim at Donald Trump, who polls show has a commanding lead for the Republican presidential nomination.
“His lies brought a mob to Washington,” Biden said, continuing to attack the former president for inciting the January 6 attack. “He promised it would be wild and it was. He told the crowd to fight like hell, and all hell was unleashed. He promised … everything they did, he would be side by side with them. Then as usual, he left the dirty work to others and retreated to the White House.”
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Biden says 'we nearly lost America' on January 6, attacks Trump
Joe Biden opened his campaign speech in Pennsylvania by remembering the severity of the January 6 attack, before shifting to a pointed attack on Donald Trump.
“Today we gathered in a new year … just one day before January 6, a day forever seared in our memory because it was on that day when we nearly lost America,” the president said. He continued:
Today, we’re here to answer the most important questions. Is democracy still America’s sacred cause? This is not rhetorical, academic or hypothetical. If democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time.
And it’s what the 2024 election is all about. The choice is clear. Donald Trump’s campaign is about him, not America, not you. Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.”
Joe Biden, alongside the first lady, Jill Biden, have taken the stage in Pennsylvania to chants of “four more years!”
The speech is the first of his re-election campaign this year, and is expected to cast Donald Trump as a threat to American democracy.
We’ll cover it live here.
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Longtime NRA chief Wayne LaPierre leaves post just as corruption trial is to open
As we wait for Joe Biden to speak in Pennsylvania, news has broken that Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the National Rifle Association, will leave his post just before the start of a trial on civil corruption charges:
The longtime chief executive of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, is stepping down at the end of the month, the gun rights organization has announced.
The NRA issued a short statement from LaPierre via X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he said: “I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend second amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.”
Membership of the association had dropped off significantly in recent years, as mass shootings rose across the US and legal action was taken against the NRA over allegations of corruption, amid financial struggles.
LaPierre, 74, said his departure would be effective from 31 January. He has been in charge of the NRA since 1991. The organization said Andrew Arulanandam, the head of NRA’s general operations, will become the interim chief executive and vice-president.
While LaPierre cites ill health for standing down, the timing comes just days before the start of a civil trial in New York that is poised to scrutinize his leadership.
A lawsuit from the New York attorney general, Letitia James, accuses LaPierre and other executives of illegally diverting tens of millions of dollars from the NRA and spending organization funds on personal trips, “no-show” contracts and other questionable expenditures.
The trial starts in Manhattan on Monday and LaPierre is expected to be among the witnesses.
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Ahead of his campaign speech at 3.15pm, Joe Biden toured Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington’s army took shelter for the winter at a crucial point in the revolutionary war.
Biden will speak from a nearby community college, but here are shots of him touring the national park:
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Biden to ask 'is democracy still America’s sacred cause?' in speech marking January 6 anniversary
In his remarks this afternoon to mark the third anniversary of January 6, Joe Biden will remind Americans of Donald Trump’s involvement in the storming of the Capitol, and cast next year’s election as decisive for determining whether the country’s democracy is to survive.
“Today we are here to answer the most important of questions: is democracy still America’s sacred cause?” the president will say, according to speech excerpts released by his campaign.
“This isn’t rhetorical, academic or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. It is what the 2024 election is all about.”
Biden won’t hold back on directly criticizing Trump and linking him to the attack. The former president is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, according to opinion polls.
“When the attacks of January 6th happened, there was no doubt about the truth. At the time, even Republican members of Congress and Fox News commentators publicly and privately condemned the attack. And as one Republican senator said, Trump’s behavior was embarrassing and humiliating for the country,” Biden will say. “But now as time has gone on, politics, fear, money have all intervened. And those MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump and January 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned our democracy. They’ve made their choice. Now the rest of us – Democrats, Independents, mainstream Republicans – we have to make our choice.”
Biden will speak at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, about 30 minutes from Valley Forge, where George Washington’s army camped out and regrouped during the American Revolution. He originally planned to speak on Saturday, the anniversary of the insurrection, but moved his speech up a day due to an approaching winter storm.
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Supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh will “step up” for Donald Trump against efforts to remove the former president from ballots, according to a Trump lawyer.
The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:
“I think it should be a slam dunk in the supreme court,” Alina Habba told Fox News on Thursday night. “I have faith in them.
“You know, people like Kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the president went through hell to get into place, he’ll step up. Those people will step up. Not because they’re pro-Trump but because they’re pro-law, because they’re pro-fairness. And the law on this is very clear.”
Kavanaugh was the second of three justices appointed by Trump, creating a 6-3 rightwing majority that has delivered major Republican victories including removing the federal right to abortion and loosening gun control laws.
Habba’s reference to Trump “going through hell” was to a stormy confirmation during which Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault, which he angrily denied. Trump reportedly wavered on Kavanaugh, only for senior Republicans to persuade him to stay strong.
For the full story, click here:
Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House’s oversight committee, has criticized chairman James Comer’s announcement that the committee will vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress next week, saying:
There is no precedent for the US House of Representatives holding a private citizen in contempt of Congress who has offered to testify in public, under oath, and on a day of the committee’s choosing. Chairman Comer repeatedly urged Hunter Biden to appear at a committee hearing, and Hunter Biden agreed.
Instead of taking yes for an answer, Chairman Comer has now obstructed his own hapless investigation by denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the committee’s questions in front of the American people and the world.
Chairman Comer does not want Hunter Biden to testify in public, just as he has refused to publicly release over a dozen interview transcripts, because he wants to keep up the carefully curated distortions, blatant lies and laughable conspiracy theories that have marked this investigation. However, the facts and the evidence all show no wrongdoing and no impeachable offense by President Biden.
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Letitia James: Trump should be banned from New York real estate market for ‘outrageous’ fraud
Donald Trump should be banned from New York’s real estate market for “outrageous” fraud, New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, said in a new court filing on Friday ahead of closing arguments in the $250m civil case.
James went on to add that the former president’s “myriad deceptive schemes … [to] inflate asset values and conceal facts were so outrageous that they belie innocent explanation,” Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, Trump’s attorneys argued in an opposing filing that James’s office failed to show any “real world impact” from Trump’s financial documents.
Lawyers for Trump’s sons Donald Jr and Eric also argued that there was no evidence that either had “anything more than a peripheral knowledge of involvement in” their father’s financial statements.
Closing arguments in the civil case, which has gone on for over three months, are set to take place next Thursday.
In September, New York judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump committed fraud for years while expanding his family’s real estate empire.
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The day so far
With 10 days to go until Iowa Republicans become the first in the country to choose their preferred presidential contender, two of frontrunner Donald Trump’s rivals opened fire on the former president. His former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley warned voters that “chaos follows him”, and “we won’t survive” another four years with Trump in office. Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, accused Trump of falsifying his anti-abortion bonafides and even briefly condemned the January 6 insurrection. Trump responded by insulting them both and promising Iowa voters “A TWO WAY LOVE FEST!!!” when he arrives in the state.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Haley was asked at a CNN town hall about her much-derided comment that slavery did not spark the civil war, and again expressed regret, while also telling us a bit about her upbringing.
House Democrats looking to condemn Trump instead ran into protesters upset at US support for Israel.
House Republicans are moving to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for not attending a behind-closed-doors deposition.
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House Democrats condemn Trump ahead of January 6 anniversary, are interrupted by protesters against Israel-Gaza war
A small group of House Democrats held a press conference outside the Capitol this morning to condemn Donald Trump and his involvement in the January 6 insurrection ahead of its third anniversary on Saturday.
But, in a sign of the times, the start of Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin’s speech was derailed by protesters calling for Israel to be held to account for the civilian death toll caused by its invasion of Gaza. Here’s the moment when it happened:
Anti-Israel protesters interrupt Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-MD) press conference marking 3 years since the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, including one who attempts to stand right next to Raskin with a sign.
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2024
“What’s the matter? Something wrong with the sign?”
“They’re worse than Jan. 6!” pic.twitter.com/s7KHKNE5Iu
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee and a prominent Trump antagonist, was able to carry on as the protesters maintained their chants. Beyond January 6, he also criticized the former president for the millions of dollars his businesses received from foreign governments during his presidency:
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on House Dems' report that Trump businesses got over $7M from foreign governments during his presidency:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2024
“Under the Constitution…all you're allowed to take is your salary. You can't get paid by Chinese communist bureaucrats or murderous Saudi monarchs.” pic.twitter.com/RF1m6x1WrA
Raskin and the Democrats on the Republican-led oversight committee yesterday released a report that documented $7.8m in foreign spending at Trump’s businesses while he was in the White House, most of which was done by China:
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Donald Trump allies who took part in the legal strategy to block Joe Biden from taking office despite his 2020 election victory now hold key positions in Congress, where they are working to impeach the current president, the Guardian’s David Smith reports, based on a watchdog report:
The attempted US coup of 6 January 2021 never ended, according to a watchdog report, since the same Donald Trump allies behind that insurrection are now leading a sham impeachment effort against Joe Biden.
The report, marking three years since a mob of Trump supporters ransacked the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat, was produced by the Congressional Integrity Project and obtained by the Guardian.
It argues that scores of Trump loyalists in the House of Representatives have continued to push the former president’s election lies and are ready to go further in a bid to put him back in the White House.
“In fact, the key players involved in Trump’s scheme to overturn the election in 2020 are the very same Republicans leading the bogus impeachment effort against President Biden,” it says.
These include Mike Johnson, the House speaker; Jim Jordan, the chair of the House judiciary committee; and James Comer, the chair of the House oversight committee, all of whom continue to push Trump’s debunked conspiracy theories and wage a crusade to impeach Biden.
Last month, the House voted along party lines to officially authorise an impeachment inquiry into Biden after months of claiming that he and his son, Hunter, engaged in an influence-peddling scheme. Even some Republicans, such as Utah senator Mitt Romney, pointed out that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden himself.
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A police officer who defended the Capitol on January 6 has announced he is running to represent a solid-blue Maryland district in Congress, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:
Harry Dunn, a former police officer who defended the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, will run for US Congress in Maryland.
On Friday, a day ahead of the third anniversary of the deadly riot, Dunn said via X, formerly known as Twitter: “On January 6, I defended our democracy from insurrectionists as a Capitol police officer. After, President Biden honoured me with the Presidential Citizens Medal.
“Today, I’m running for Congress, to stop Trump’s Maga extremists and ensure it never happens again.”
“Maga” is short for Trump’s campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.
Nine deaths have been linked to the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021, which happened when Donald Trump told supporters to “fight like hell” to block certification of his election defeat by Joe Biden.
The attack failed. But one police officer, Brian Sicknick, died the next day. Other officers killed themselves.
Dunn – a commanding presence at 6ft 7in and 325lbs, once an offensive lineman in college football – was one of a group of officers who acquired a public profile after the riot, testifying before the House January 6 committee, appearing on television and releasing an autobiography, Standing My Ground.
He will now run for Congress in Maryland’s third district, a solidly Democratic seat north-east of Washington represented by John Sarbanes, re-elected eight times but not running this year. The primary, which Dunn now joins, will be held on 14 May.
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We are going to hear a lot about January 6 at 3.15pm today, when Joe Biden marks the third anniversary of the deadly attack on the Capitol with a speech that doubles as the start of his presidential campaigning in 2024.
Republican presidential contenders, by contrast, tend to have little to say about the insurrection, even when asked directly. A questioner at CNN’s town hall in Iowa last night asked Ron DeSantis for his views on the attack, and the Florida governor responded with a brief condemnation, then changed the subject. Here’s the moment:
Town hall audience member: “Did the Jan. 6th insurrectionists display patriotism?”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2024
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL): “No, of course not…I think the media has taken that, and I think the left has taken that, and really tried to politicize it, but it was not a good day for the country.” pic.twitter.com/cRG12bo0rI
Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie, among others, are campaigning fervently in an effort to knock Donald Trump from his position as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Yet poll after poll shows the former president dominating the field, and the trend has remained the same for months; just look at poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
For the Guardian’s Politics Weekly America podcast, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol about whether any of Trump’s challengers have a chance:
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Haley says she 'had Black friends growing up' in response to slavery criticism
At her CNN town hall last night, Nikki Haley was asked if she wanted to answer criticisms she received after declining last month to say that slavery caused the US civil war. Haley has already backtracked from her remark after strong criticism, including from Republican presidential campaign rival Chris Christie, who accused the former UN ambassador of being afraid to offend people.
Haley responded by acknowledging she should have mentioned slavery’s role in sparking the worst war in American history, and also pointing out that she had Black friends while growing up. Here’s video of her remarks:
“In South Carolina ... you grow up ... you know, I had Black friends growing up. It is a very talked-about thing.”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2024
— Nikki Haley at a CNN town hall says she “should have said slavery” in her viral response to a question about the Civil War, but said in her mind, “that’s a given” pic.twitter.com/lPCkRAbPLL
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Speaking of Joe Biden, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly has a preview of the speech the president plans to give later today marking the third anniversary of the January 6 attack, and also kicking off his re-election campaigning in 2024:
Joe Biden will on Friday mark the third anniversary of the deadly January 6 attack on Congress, delivering his first presidential election campaign speech of 2024 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania – a site replete with historical meaning.
A day before the anniversary, due to a bad weather forecast, Biden will speak where George Washington’s army endured another dark moment: the bitter winter of 1777-78, an ordeal key to winning American independence from Britain.
Biden will also speak about the January 6 attack on Monday at the Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, where in June 2015 a gunman shot dead nine Black people in an attempt to start a race war.
Donald Trump’s nearest challenger for the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley, was governor of South Carolina at the time and subsequently oversaw the removal of the Confederate battle flag from statehouse grounds.
Haley has since struggled to define her position on the flag and the interests it represented, last week in New Hampshire failing to say slavery caused the civil war.
But the Biden campaign is focusing on Trump, who refused to accept his conclusive defeat in 2020, spreading the lie that he was denied by electoral fraud and ultimately encouraging supporters to attempt to stop certification of Biden’s win by Congress.
The attack on the Capitol delayed certification but the process was completed in the early hours of 7 January. Biden was inaugurated two weeks later.
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Biden knocks Trump as new data confirms strong hiring throughout 2023
After the release of government data that showed employment grew steadily in the United States throughout last year, Joe Biden released a statement that took both credit for the healthy labor market and a swipe at Donald Trump.
“This morning’s report confirms that 2023 was a great year for American workers. The economy created 2.7 million new jobs in 2023 – a year when the unemployment rate was consistently below 4 percent – more jobs than during any year of the prior Administration,” the president said.
He also went after Trump’s Republican allies in Congress:
I won’t stop fighting for American workers and American families. I know that some prices are still too high for too many Americans, and I am doing everything in my power to lower everyday costs for hard-working Americans – from bringing down the price of insulin, prescription drugs, and energy, to addressing hidden junk fees companies use to rip you off, to calling on large corporations to pass on savings to consumers as their costs moderate. And I will continue opposing efforts by Congressional Republicans to shower massive giveaways on the wealthy and big corporations, cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and block us from lowering costs for American families.
Here’s more from the Guardian’s Callum Jones on what the December employment data reported by the labor department showed about the state of American workers in 2023:
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House Republicans announce hearings to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress
House Republicans will convene hearings next week to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena and appear for a behind-closed-doors deposition.
Joe Biden’s son is facing federal criminal charges over failing to pay taxes and unlawfully obtaining a gun. Republicans claim he is part of a larger corruption plot involving the president, but they have not made public any proof that the older Biden illegally benefited from his son’s overseas business dealings. In November, the House oversight committee issued a subpoena to Hunter Biden ordering him to appear for a deposition, but he insisted he would only testify publicly.
On 13 December, the day the subpoena told him to appear, Biden gave a speech outside the Capitol, and said: “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry or hear what I have to say.” He departed without attending the deposition.
In announcing the hearing to hold Biden in contempt, Republican House oversight committee chair James Comer said:
We planned to question Hunter Biden about this record of evidence, but he blatantly defied two lawful subpoenas, choosing to read a prepared statement outside of the Capitol instead of appearing for testimony as required. Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States attorney’s office for prosecution. We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name.
Both the House oversight and judiciary committees will hold their hearings beginning at 10am on Wednesday, 10 December.
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Donald Trump responded to Ron DeSantis’s and Nikki Haley’s attacks against him with his customary volley of accusations and insults published on his Truth Social network:
Ron DeSanctimonious has one minor flaw against the Democrats — He has ZERO personality. If I didn’t endorse him, he would have finished, during the Primary, at 3%. NO LOYALTY! Bobblehead is now in third place, Jeff Roe has taken all of his money and quit, and he should get on a plane and go back to Florida today. He never told the people, during the Florida Governor campaign, that they would be abandoned. Just like Sloppy Chris Christie did to New Jersey (He finished up at an 8% approval rating!). Birdbrain said, over and over again, that she would NEVER run against the President, “He was a GREAT President” – and then she ran. Two very unreliable and disloyal people! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
But the former president appeared much more cheerful about the day’s travel plans:
Heading out to the Great State of Iowa today. A TWO WAY LOVE FEST!!!
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DeSantis casts doubt on Trump's abortion opposition, says country needs to move on
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor whose once-promising presidential campaign has hit multiple speed bumps in recent months, used his CNN town hall in Iowa last night to cast doubt on Donald Trump’s commitment to banning abortion.
As president, Trump appointed three of the supreme court justices who voted to overturn Roe v Wade and allow states to cut off access to the procedure entirely, but at the event, DeSantis said Trump was insincere about the issue:
How do you flip-flop on something like the sanctity of life? pic.twitter.com/fXJ0Mb9TDU
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 5, 2024
DeSantis also cast himself as the candidate that can move the Republican party beyond Trump, and reminded viewers that, if elected, he could serve two four-year terms in office, while Trump is limited to just one more stint:
We don’t want the 2024 election to be a referendum on Trump and the past.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 5, 2024
We want it to be a referendum on Biden’s failures and our positive vision for the country.
I offer that. pic.twitter.com/p0yTQgYg04
Haley keeps up attacks on former boss Trump after saying 'chaos follows him'
Nikki Haley is not backing down from attacking Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination whom she served as his United Nations ambassador.
The rivalry picked up on Thursday evening at a CNN town hall, where Haley said:
I personally think President Trump was the right president at the right time. I agree with a lot of his policies. But, the reality is, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. And we all know that’s true. Chaos follows him. And we can’t have a country in disarray, and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won’t survive it. And you don’t defeat Democrat chaos with Republican chaos.
The comments weren’t made in passing. Shortly after the town hall ended, Haley tweeted this:
My differences with Donald Trump:
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 5, 2024
-He grew the debt by $8 trillion in 4 years.
-He praises dictators. He picked a fight with Israel’s prime minister after Oct. 7.
We need to put the chaos and the drama of the past behind us.
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Haley warns country 'won't survive' another Trump administration, DeSantis says he ‘didn’t deliver’ as rivals pile on ahead of Iowa caucus
We are 10 days away from the Iowa Republican caucuses, where we will find out if Donald Trump’s persistent lead in polls will translate into votes. But his main rivals for the GOP presidential nomination aren’t letting his momentum deter them, and dialed up their attacks in two separate town halls hosted by CNN on Thursday evening. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as Trump’s United Nation ambassador, said of her former boss that “chaos follows him” and warned “we won’t survive” another four years of him in office. Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, responded “of course not” when asked if he thought Trump was “pro-life” and said the former president “didn’t deliver” during his administration.
Earlier in the campaign, most of Trump’s Republican rivals hesitated to criticize him, wary of infuriating his substantial group of dedicated supporters. That dam appears to have broken for the two politicians seen as having the best chance, if anyone does, of beating him in Iowa on 15 January, and then in the New Hampshire primary set for 23 January.
Here’s what else is going on today:
Joe Biden will mark the start of his re-election campaigning with a speech in Pennsylvania that is expected to lean heavily on the anniversary of January 6 to warn voters of the perils of electing Trump again. The event is set for 3.15pm eastern time.
Democratic House lawmakers will also mark the January 6 attack with a press conference at 11am.
Employment grew by a greater-than-expected 216,000 jobs last month, defying expectations of a slowdown, according to just-released US government data.
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