Donald Trump tore into his Republican rival Ron DeSantis at a rally in Iowa on Monday, calling him “sanctimonious” and comparing him to Mitt Romney.
The former president claimed Mr DeSantis had “strongly opposed ethanol” in the past and “wanted to decimate social security”, which Mr Trump himself promised not to do.
He also said Mr DeSantis had been “a disciple of Paul Ryan – a RINO loser who is currently destroying Fox”, concluding: “To be honest with you, Ron reminds me of Mitt Romney.”
Mr DeSantis is one of Mr Trump’s foremost rivals for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, having made a national name for himself as a crusader against so-called “woke” ideology and LGBT+ rights.
The mercurial tycoon also hit out at the New York state investigation into hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election, having earlier on Monday declined an invitation to testify before the grand jury.
“We stand up to the crooked Democrat prosecutors all over the country,” Mr Trump vowed. “Nobody’s ever weaponised like this group of people. They’re maniacs.”
Mr Trump is also under fire following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank – the biggest US bank failure since 2008 – after he watered down regulations during his time in office.
Trump reveals a spatter of mini campaign videos
Donald Trump went on the offensive against Florida Gov Ron DeSantis on Monday with a new video in which the former president, talking directly to camera, denies that people are moving to Florida out of any love for the governor or his policies.
It was an odd line of attack that seemed to reveal Mr Trump’s own worries about his likely 2024 rival’s ability to run on the success of his term in office.
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Donald Trump’s lawyer says he has ‘no plans’ to testify in Stormy Daniels hush money probe
Donald Trump will not testify before a grand jury investigating the hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election, according to his attorney.
Joe Tacopina told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday that Mr Trump has “no plans” to participate in the probe – as possible criminal charges against the former president loom.
“We have no plans on participating in that proceeding,” he said.
“Decision needs to be made still. There’s been no deadline set, so we’ll wait and see.”
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Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen insists he’s not seeking ‘revenge’ before testifying in hush money probe
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is set to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan looking into the hush money payments he made on behalf of Mr Trump.
Mr Cohen is set to testify regarding Mr Trump’s involvement in payments made during the 2016 campaign to women who alleged he had had affairs with them.
“My goal is to tell the truth,” he told the assembled press outside the courthouse, according to the Associated Press.
“This is not revenge,” he added. “This is all about accountability. He needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds.”
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Justice Department shoots down claims that Tucker Carlson footage of QAnon Shaman exonerates Jan 6 rioters
Federal prosecutors have shot down any suggestion that footage aired on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News programme has in any way exonerated the so-called QAnon Shaman who joined a mob that stormed the halls of the US Capitol on January 6.
Jacob Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison after he was convicted of a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress. An attorney for another rioter charged with seditious conspiracy argued in court filings that the footage showing Chansley interacting with officers directing him to leave the building was “exculpatory”.
“Chansley was not some passive, chaperoned observer of events for the roughly hour that he was unlawfully inside the Capitol,” prosecutors replied.
“He was part of the initial breach of the building; he confronted law enforcement for roughly 30 minutes just outside the Senate Chamber; he gained access to the gallery of the Senate along with other members of the mob … and he gained access to and later left the Senate floor only after law enforcement was able to arrive en masse to remove him,” they continued.
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Trump blamed over Silicon Valley Bank collapse
Critics looking to assign blame for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank have found possible culprits in Donald Trump and Republican senators.
Though little known outside of Silicon Valley, the SVB was the leading lender to tech firms and startups before it crumbled on Friday.
SVB announced on Wednesday that it had sold a number of securities at a loss, and that it planned to sell $2.25bn in new shares to help right its balance sheet.
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Mitch McConnell discharged from the hospital
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was discharged from the hospital on Monday after suffering a fall and a concussion. He is set to return to the Senate in the coming days, after returning from inpatient physical therapy.
The top-ranking Senate Republican also suffered a fractured rib, according to his office’s statement Monday afternoon.
Donald Trump is a long-running critic of the GOP Senate leader, who whipped his caucus against supporting Mr Trump’s objections to the certification of the 2020 election. But the former president has wished his rival a speedy recovery.
Trump attacks testimony of Michael Cohen
Donald Trump issued a furious response on Monday when asked by reporters about his former fixer, Michael Cohen, testifying to a New York grand jury about a hush payment he made to Stormy Daniels on Mr Trump’s behalf in 2016.
“ He’s a sick person. He’s a convicted felon. He’s a convicted liar. Lied before Congress said the greatest things about me too, by the way, you know, then all of a sudden one day he went crazy because he wanted to make a deal for him,” said Mr Trump, according to CBS News.
Mr Cohen is set to testify to the grand jury again on Tuesday after spending three hours behind closed doors offering his take on Monday.
Mike Pence says ‘history will hold Trump accountable’
Mike Pence said he knows history will hold Donald Trump accountable over the Jan 6 insurrection and also made jokes at the expense of his former boss about the secret documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
The former vice president and Trump loyalist’s comments are some of the harshest he has made about the one-time president.
“President Trump was wrong,” he said at the event attended by politicians and journalists.
“I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
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Trump would make aides call Fox to get them to ‘fix’ poor coverage
A former official in the Trump administration said the one-term president kept such close ties with Fox News that he would sometimes have aides call the network to pressure employees to turn whatever was irking him into news stories.
Stephanie Grisham, the former White House Communications Director under Donald Trump, recalled her interactions with Fox News during an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta.
During the discussion, Acosta said he recalled seeing Fox News personalities like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham being openly invited in to meet with White House officials despite the fact they were ostensibly members of the press.
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Source: independent.co.uk