Trump news – live: Trump lashes out at ‘deranged’ Jack Smith as potential indictment over Jan 6 looms

Donald Trump has gone on the attack over the grand jury investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election – as he could be indicted on criminal charges as soon as this week. In a Truth Social rant on Sunday night, the former president lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland claiming that the investigations are a ‘coordinated Hoax’ and a ploy to ‘STEAL ANOTHER ELECTION through PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT at levels never seen before in the U.S.’. This comes as former vice president Mike Pence downplayed Mr Trump’s actions leading up to the Capitol riot, claiming that he is not sure if they were criminal or not. ‘While his words were reckless, based on what I know, I am not yet convinced that they were criminal,’ Mr Pence, who is also a Republican presidential contender, told CNN ‘s ‘State of the Union’. In one of the clearest signs that Mr Trump could face federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the former president said last week that he had received a letter saying he is a target of a grand jury investigation. Key points Pennsylvania mayor seeking reimbursement of costs from Trump as he prepares another rally 21:30 , Oliver O’Connell The Erie-Times News reports that the city of Erie is once again seeking reimbursement from the Trump campaign for any costs incurred by the taxpayer as a result of the former president’s rally planned for Saturday. The president did not repay more than $35,000 to the city to cover the costs of a rally in 2018. Erie Mayor Joe Schember’s administration will once again seek reimbursement from former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign for any taxpayer-funded, employee related costs incurred as a result of Trump’s planned Saturday rally at Erie Insurance Arena. Schember told the Erie Times-News Monday morning that the city plans to pursue reimbursement from the Trump campaign, despite the fact that the former president’s campaign committee did not repay more than $35,000 to the city in relation to a Trump rally which took place at Erie Insurance Arena almost five years ago. ‘I gave $1 to you and $20 to Biden’ 21:15 , Oliver O’Connell Republican presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum is offering $20 gift cards to donors who give $1 to his campaign – but some supporters of Joe Biden say they have been funnelling the gift card money to the president’s re-election campaign. Kelly Rissman has the story. Biden supporters exploit Republican’s $1 cashback campaign pledge Giuliani team that tried to find evidence of 2020 fraud hands over hundreds of documents to Jan 6 probe 21:00 , Oliver O’Connell The former New York City Police Department commissioner who collected spurious evidence of alleged voter fraud and manipulation for Donald Trump ‘s campaign has agreed to turn over hundreds of documents, according to court filings. Alex Woodward has the details. Watch: Miles Taylor reveals Trump ‘desperately wanted to create his own armed mercenary group’ 20:45 , Oliver O’Connell Former White House staffer Miles Taylor revealed in an interview that former president Donald Trump desperately wanted to create an American version of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Wagner Group. Voices: 20:30 , Oliver O’Connell Benedict Cosgrove writes: As the legal troubles facing Donald Trump grow, many of us are torn by conflicting responses to the spectacle of a former president facing multiple felony criminal indictments. Yes, we’re grateful that the most depraved, transparently autocratic president in US history is facing justice. But our satisfaction is tempered by the knowledge that, like any mob boss, Trump sees the indictments as a badge of honor, and countless MAGA die-hards see them that way, too. Watch: Christie says Trump threat to suspend Constitution should disqualify him from 2024 race 20:15 , Oliver O’Connell What does the Kerik evidence mean for the next Trump indictment? 20:00 , Oliver O’Connell Referencing The Daily Beast reporting, MSNBC’s Katie Phang notes what the evidence handed over by former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik could mean for the special counsel investigation into Donald Trump’s alleged election interference, and the likely third indictment of the former president. “Smith is expected to now receive nearly 2,000 pages of material describing how Kerik looked into bogus fraud allegations. The records could prove pivotal for federal prosecutors, who are seeking evidence of Trump’s decision-making process…” “Kerik has agreed to sit down with the feds for a formal interview sometime in mid-August, Kerik said. That timing could indicate that Smith isn’t as close to indicting Trump as the former president has recently suggested…” “…but Smith could also conduct the Kerik interview after an indictment. Investigators typically wrap up interviews and collect a full picture of evidence before asking a grand jury to vote on criminal charges.” Unanswered questions about Donald Trump’s looming third indictment 19:45 , Oliver O’Connell Donald Trump is widely expected to be hit with his third indictment of the year this week over his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 US presidential election and his role in the ensuing Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. Mr Trump took to Truth Social last Tuesday (18 July) to gripe to his followers about receiving a letter from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith informing him that he is the target of a grand jury investigation, adding to his ever-mounting legal woes at a time when he is attempting to secure the Republican Party ‘s backing to be its candidate for the White House in 2024. The development comes after he was arraigned in New York on 4 April over the alleged misrepresentation of business records to conceal hush money payments during the 2016 campaign and again in Florida on 13 June over the alleged mishandling of classified documents belonging to the US government in the aftermath of his presidency. Mr Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and, despite these setbacks, his popularity with his supporters remains largely undimmed: he leads the field in the quest for the GOP nomination to challenge Joe Biden and has turned adversity to his advantage by raising campaign funds off the back of his insistence that he is really the victim of political persecution by his enemies and a Justice Department ‘weaponised’ against him by the Biden administration. Unanswered questions about Trump’s looming January 6 indictment Haley leads DeSantis in South Carolina, poll shows 19:30 , Oliver O’Connell Two new polls from Fox Business show that Florida governor Ron DeSantis ‘s numbers in the Republican presidential primary continue to tumble in Iow in South Carolina , where the state’s former governor Nikki Haley has eclipsed him. Eric Garcia reports. Former NYPD commissioner hands Trump records to special counsel, report says 19:15 , Oliver O’Connell Per The Daily Beast: Bernie Kerik, the former NYPD commissioner who collected evidence of supposed election fraud for the Trump campaign in 2020, has cut a deal to turn over records to Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of the investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Smith previously sought the documents, which are related to Kerik’s role as the former president’s on-the-ground investigator looking into eventually disproven conspiracy theories about ballot stuffing and fake voters. However, Kerik’s legal team had refused to turn those documents over, citing attorney-client privilege stemming from the fact that Kerik was working on behalf of Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. But on Friday, Trump himself waived that privilege and agreed to have the documents turned over, according to Kerik’s defense lawyer, Timothy Parlatore. Watch: Trump alleged 2020 election interference was drama in three acts 19:00 , Oliver O’Connell Voices: What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election 18:30 , Oliver O’Connell Eric Garcia writes: Another day, another wrench thrown into the Republican presidential primary. On Friday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order announcing Donald Trump’s court date for his trial for charges related to the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice will take place on 20 May 2024. What Donald Trump’s trial date means for the 2024 election Watch: Haley says she will support Trump if he is nominated but adds he cannot win a general election 18:00 , Oliver O’Connell Which presidential candidates have met criteria to join first RNC debate? 17:30 , Oliver O’Connell Six Republican presidential candidates have met the Republican National Committee’s ( RNC ) new criteria to participate in the first GOP debate on 23 August. Trump shares meme calling Jan 6 a ‘government staged riot’ even though he was in power 17:00 , Oliver O’Connell Former President Donald Trump reposted a meme on Truth Social that suggested the government led the Capitol riot on January 6, despite the fact that he was president at the time. The meme, which Mr Trump ‘re-truthed,’ said: ‘January 6 will go down in history as the day the government staged a riot to cover up the fact that they certified a fraudulent election.’ The meme has been liked nearly 9,000 times and shared 2,400 times as of Monday. In reaction to Mr Trump’s repost, journalist Aaron Rupar sarcastically wrote on Twitter: ‘rubbing my last 2 brain cells together as I try to remember who ran the government on January 6.’ Kelly Rissman reports. Judge with Trump’s fate in her hands was appointed by him 16:40 , Oliver O’Connell A Florida district judge assigned to oversee Donald Trump’s classified documents case is attracting criticism given that it was Mr Trump himself who elevated her to the bench three years ago. Aileen Cannon , a federal judge with the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida overseeing the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice case against Mr Trump, has rejected the disgraced ex-president’s bid to delay his trial until after the 2024 election. Judge Cannon issued an order on 21 July granting the government’s request to set a speedy trial date and schedule for pretrial motions, with a start date of 20 May 2024. Aileen Cannon: The judge with Trump’s fate in her hands was appointed by him The many lawsuits and criminal charges involving Donald Trump and where they stand 16:20 , Oliver O’Connell Since leaving the White House, Donald Trump has continued to face a cloud of lawsuits and investigations, which could frustrate his hopes to win back the presidency in 2024 . The Independent ‘s US news team has been closely following the former president’s legal woes. Here’s a summary of where each of the cases against him stands: 16:00 , Oliver O’Connell Andrew Feinberg explains. When will Trump next be indicted? 15:50 , Oliver O’Connell Despite leading the race to be the Republican Party’s next presidential candidate, Donald Trump ‘s legal woes continue to mount. Last week, Mr Trump was informed by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith that he is the target of a grand jury investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in the deadly Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. This comes after he has already been indicted twice this year – once over hush money payments allegedly made during his 2016 election campaign and second over his alleged mishandling of classified documents since leaving the White House. Rachel Sharp takes a look at what might happen next. When is Donald Trump’s next indictment? Explained: The Trump federal investigation 15:40 , Oliver O’Connell Alex Woodward reports on how a sprawling Justice Department probe into Donald Trump and his allies could result in several criminal charges against the former president. Jack Smith: The prosecutor overseeing the Trump federal investigations 15:20 , Oliver O’Connell Jack Smith , the experienced war crimes prosecutor who unveiled an unprecedented federal indictment against former US president Donald J Trump, is no stranger to high-profile probes of public figures. The Department of Justice veteran returned to the US last November after being appointed a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland . The first mission was to consider, ‘whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the electoral college vote held on or about January 6, 2021’. The second, which led to Mr Trump being indicted and arraigned in 37 federal charges, was about whether the former president had violated US laws prohibiting unlawful retention of national defence information and obstruction of justice. Pelosi slams ‘pathetic’ McCarthy for ‘playing politics’ with plans to expunge Trump impeachments 15:00 , Oliver O’Connell Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed her successor Kevin McCarthy for plans to expunge former president Donald Trump’s two impeachments, in an interview with CNN on Sunday. Ms Pelosi presided over both impeachments of Mr Trump, the first in 2019 when Mr Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter in exchange for military aid to the country, and the second in 2021 for the January 6 riot. ‘The president was impeached because we had no choice,’ she said on CNN’s State of the Union . ‘He had undermined our national security, jeopardised our wellbeing of our country.’ Ms Pelosi said she was very cautious about bringing forward the two impeachments. Eric Garcia reports.