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Judge Scott McAfee, who oversaw an election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia, has thrown out some criminal charges, but left most in place.

The judge found six counts in the 41-count indictment against Donald Trump and some of his co-defendants, including Rudy Giuliani, lacked detail.

But he said the charges can be refiled at a later date.

Donald Trump was among 19 people charged with a conspiracy to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

“The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” Judge McAfee wrote in his order on March 13.

He said the charges do not provide the accused with enough information to prepare their legal defences “intelligently”, adding that “this does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed”.

Judge McAfee was randomly assigned the Trump case in 2023, just six months after being appointed as a judge by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican.

He previously worked as a prosecutor, including for the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who led the investigation into the former president.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Judge McAfee’s ruling affects three of the 13 charges against Donald Trump.

They relate to a call Donald Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he told him: “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”

One of the charges accused the former president of soliciting public officials to break the law by violating their oath of office.

However, Judge McAfee said the indictment was not specific enough about exactly what Donald Trump wanted the officials to do.

The other dismissed charges apply to some of his most prominent co-defendants: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Mark Meadows.

In his order, Judge McAfee said the charges “contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited”.

It comes as a win for Donald Trump and his co-defendants, who had filed to dismiss the charge. Prosecutors could now choose to refile the charges with more information in their allegation, or let the ruling stand and focus on the other charges.

The group had initially faced 41 total charges. Donald Trump is facing up to 20 years in prison in Georgia if convicted of the most severe charge of racketeering.

In a statement, Donald Trump’s lawyer in the Georgia case, Steve Sadow, called the ruling “a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts”.

Donald Trump, who is running for president against Joe Biden in November, has slammed the case as politically motivated.

Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll, a writer he was found to have defamed by denying her allegation of sexual assault, a New York jury has ruled.

In 2023, E. Jean Carroll won another civil case in which a separate jury found Donald Trump legally responsible for sexually abusing and defaming her, and awarded her $5 million in damages.

The outcome in the first case did nothing to deter the former president in denying E. Jean Carroll’s story, personally attacking the writer and claiming he had never met her.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

After January 26 hefty legal bill, Donald Trump notably did not denigrate the former Elle columnist in his reaction online, instead calling the case a “Biden Directed Witch Hunt”.

Donald Trump – who is currently facing four criminal indictments and could soon have to dish out millions more dollars in a New York civil trial relating to business fraud – has often claimed the cases against him are politically motivated.

Recent polling has shown Donald Trump locked in a tight race with President Joe Biden, and even edging ahead in some cases, in a prospective rematch of their 2020 race.

Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll pointed out throughout the trial that Donald Trump was still defaming her both in and out of court.

In closing arguments, they asked the jurors – seven men and two women – to deliver the kind of penalty that will “make him stop”.

Of the $83.3 million awarded to E Jean Carroll, $65 million of it is punitive damages.

It is extremely unlikely that the Supreme Court would grant an appeal, because the justices rarely ever review cases involving such civil trials.

Former federal prosecutor Mitch Epner said Donald Trump has avoided having to pay E. Jean Carroll any money so far by transmitting a deposit to the court while the appeals process plays out.

Mitch Epner expects Donald Trump will do the same with these much higher damages – stumping up either cash or an appeal bond as a deposit.

Without that, he added, E Jean Carroll could start seizing the former president’s personal assets around the country, even putting liens on his real estate.

After Donald Trump’s commanding victories in the first two Republican primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, there is no sign that January 26 verdict will slow his march to the party’s presidential nomination.

Voters begin to arrive at caucus locations – schools, churches and small event spaces – ahead of a 19:00 local start time (20:00 ET).

Voters are braving temperatures as low as -23C (-9F) after winter storms blanketed the state in snow and ice.

Iowa is the first major state-wide vote to decide who will be the Republican. presidential candidate for the 2024 election.

There will be over 1,600 caucus sites across Iowa’s 99 counties, and all will be reporting the results of their vote to the state’s Republican Party officials as quickly as possible.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump has consistently posted big leads over his nearest rivals in Iowa.

The most recent poll of Iowans who were likely to caucus had Trump at 48%, ahead of Nikki Haley with 20% and Ron DeSantis with 16%.

The candidates have been urging their supporters to brave the weather, with Donald Trump saying: “Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it.”

The Haley campaign says it expects a “strong” result in Iowa, while Ron DeSantis claims sturdy support among “bed-rock” conservatives.

The Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis campaigns and their political action committees (which raise and spend money to elect and defeat candidates) have altogether spent nearly $90 million on ads in Iowa.

Of these, Haley’s campaign and the pro-Haley Stand 4 America Fund PAC have spent the most, totalling about $36 million. The DeSantis campaign and various affiliated PACs follow closely behind with about $35 million spent.

Donald Trump – the distant front-runner in the race – his campaign and the MAGA Inc PAC have spent far less, totalling about $18 million.

Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson also remain in the contest, but are not expected to garner significant support.

The Iowa Republican Party has created a results website, and you’re welcome to join us in obsessively refreshing it all night.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has withdrawn from the 2024 presidential race, saying “this is not my time”.

Mike Pence made the announcement at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas on October 28.

“We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets,” he wrote in a statement.

Mike Pence, 64, is the first major Republican candidate to suspend his campaign in a race led by former President Donald Trump.

He had languished in recent polls and had struggled to gain the support of Republican voters.

The former vice president’s campaign had also racked up large amounts of debt, with Mike Pence ending September owing $621,000 and having only US$1.2 million in the bank – significantly less than other Republican rivals.

“I am leaving this campaign, but I will never leave the fight for conservative values,” he wrote in a statement addressed to his supporters.

Photo Getty Images

Mike Pence lost the support of many Republican voters when he publicly broke with Donald Trump over the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021, and when he presided over the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election results in Congress.

Donald Trump admonished Mike Pence for lacking “courage” when he refused to overturn the Democratic leader’s election victory.

Some rioters were heard chanting “hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the halls of Congress in 2021, and since then many Trump loyalists have viewed him as a traitor.

The former vice-president said in March that Donald Trump’s encouragement of the rioters had “endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day”.

In his resignation, Mike Pence did not endorse any other Republican candidates for the presidential election.

But he called on Americans to choose a leader that “will ‘appeal to the better angels of our nature’ and not only lead us to victory but also lead our nation with civility and back to those time-honoured principles that have always made America strong, prosperous and free.”

Mike Pence’s decision to withdraw from the Republican presidential campaign came shortly before the third presidential debate on November 8.

Former President Donald Trump is expected to fly from Florida on his private plane and hand himself in with federal agents there after a grand jury has indicted him in connection with a $130,000 pay-out to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

According to CBS News, Donald Trump’s court hearing has been set for April 4, in the afternoon.

The charges are not yet public, and a lawyer for Donald Trump said on March 31 that he too has yet to read the indictment.

A law enforcement official told CBS that Donald Trump is expected to fly his private plane to New York on April 3 before surrendering to officials on April 4.

The process is likely to involve dozens or possibly hundreds of Secret Service agents, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Donald Trump will not be handcuffed, the official added, saying that shackles are typically only used on suspects who are thought to be a flight or safety risk.

The hearing is due to take place at 14:15 local time.

Image source Wikipedia

President Trump Officially Discloses Stormy Daniels Payment

Donald Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told ABC News that the former president will “probably” appear in court on April 4, “but nothing is certain”.

Prosecutors “will try and get every ounce of publicity they can from this thing”, he said, adding “the president will not be put in handcuffs”.

“I understand they’re going to be closing off blocks around the courthouse, shutting down the courthouse,” he continued.

Security is being co-ordinated by the FBI, NYPD, Secret Service and New York City court officers.

Sources tell CBS that they are bracing for possible scenarios that include attacks against Donald Trump, prosecutors, jurors or members of the public. The district attorney’s office has received “many threats”, the sources said.

On March 31, the streets around the courthouse were calm but the barricades were going up in anticipation of what may come next week.

Police officers were on patrol and security plans were being put into place. Many expect the area to go into lockdown when the former president attends court.

The district attorney’s office had initially asked Donald Trump to surrender on March 31, according to Politico, but the request was rejected because more time was needed for security preparations.

The 76-year-old ex-president denies any wrongdoing. He is the first serving or former US president to face a criminal charge.

It is unclear how many charges are contained in the indictment, which is still sealed.

Media reports have said the ex-president faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud and Joe Tacopina said on March 30 he thought there would be 34. However, on the next day he said he did not know how many.

“We know what the subject matter is, we know the basis of the charges. We don’t know the exact counts or how they’re formulated,” he said.

On March 31, Donald Trump began attacking the judge assigned to his case in an effort to undermine the credibility of the investigation and rally his base to his defence.

Republicans – including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – have accused the Manhattan district attorney of weaponizing the criminal justice system to influence next year’s presidential election. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, who Donald Trump recently suggested should run for Senate, called on followers to protest and said she plans to be present in New York next week.

In response, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the charges had been brought by citizens of New York doing their civic duty – and neither the former president nor Congress could interfere with proceedings.

In Washington, the US Capitol Police, which are tasked with safeguarding lawmakers in Congress, said the force believes protests will take place across the country and have plans in place to increase security at the US Capitol.

In 2016, Stormy Daniels contacted media outlets offering to sell her account of what she said was an adulterous affair she had with Donald Trump in 2006 – the year after he married his current wife, Melania.

Donald Trump’s team got wind of this and his lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet. This is not illegal.

However, when Donald Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen, the record for the payment says it was for legal fees. Prosecutors say this amounts to Donald Trump falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanour – a criminal offence – in New York.

President Joe Biden declined to comment on the indictment, despite being pressed on the issue by journalists as he left the White House on a trip to Mississippi.

Nearly three months after announcing his campaign, Donald Trump made his first campaign foray out of his adopted home state of Florida on January 28.

In New Hampshire, he addressed a meeting of the Republican Party and announced the outgoing state party chair would be a senior adviser to his campaign. And at the state capitol in Columbia, South Carolina, he received the endorsements of the state’s governor, Henry McMaster, and Senator Lindsey Graham.

Lindsay Graham, a Trump confidante who expressed some disillusionment after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, is now back firmly in the fold.

Donald Trump once again denied his 2020 defeat and told supporters that he – unlike any possible Republican alternatives – would be the most effective nominee in 2024.

“To change the whole system, you need a president who can take on the whole system and a president who can win,” he said from the state capitol’s main hall.

In both stops, the former president touted what he said was his record of success during his presidency and attacked President Joe Biden’s record on crime, immigration and the economy.

Image source Wikipedia

Across the street, Todd Gerhardt, a Republican district executive committee member from nearby Charleston, sold honey in Trump-shaped plastic bottles.

Todd Gerhardt was an early supporter of Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, organized a 2016 rally for him on South Carolina’s posh Kiawah Island, and recently visited the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate for a fundraiser and to provide his honey for the campaign’s gift bags.

It’s no coincidence that the first two stops of Donald Trump’s third presidential campaign were South Carolina and New Hampshire. The two states could prove to be central to Trump’s strategy to retake the White House.

While Iowa is the first state to hold a Republican presidential nomination contest in 2024, Donald Trump finished third there in 2016 and the evangelical Christians who dominate the state’s Republican electorate could be eying other possible candidates, like former Vice-President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

New Hampshire and South Carolina, however, provided Donald Trump with a one-two punch that catapulted him to the front in 2016 – a lead he never relinquished.

They could do the same in 2024. In fact, every Republican presidential nominee since 1980 has won the South Carolina primary, making it unique among the traditional early-voting states.

South Carolina could prove to be a unique challenge for Donald Trump this time around, however. He faces potential challenges from Senator Tim Scott as well as the state’s former governor, Nikki Haley.

An Emerson Poll conducted earlier this week found 55% of Republican voters supporting Donald Trump, well ahead of the 29% for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not announced a presidential bid but is viewed to be the former president’s most formidable rival. A Monmouth poll in December had Mr DeSantis ahead by double-digits.

Earlier this week, Meta announced that it was lifting the suspension it had placed on Donald Trump’s accounts in the aftermath of the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. Although the former president has yet to resume posting to his accounts, his return could provide yet another opportunity for voter outreach – and fundraising – as his still minimally staffed campaign gears up for its 2024 run.

If rallies and Facebook donations were the fuel for Donald Trump’s past White House bids, his South Carolina stop was a different kind of operation.

With only 300 announced attendees, it was a decidedly low-key event compared to his typical arena gatherings, with their carnival atmosphere. Attire tended toward sport coats and dresses, not Make America Great Again hats and Let’s Go Brandon t-shirts.

To win a third Republican presidential nomination, however, Donald Trump will need the support of the political rank-and-file in states like New Hampshire and South Carolina, as well as his rally-going loyalists. And while Donald Trump’s national polls show continued strength, a recent South Carolina survey had nearly half of Republican voters expressing a preference for “someone else” besides Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump has announced his presidential candidacy on November 15, declaring: “America’s comeback starts right now.”

At his Mar-a-Lago estate, Donald Trump, 76, said: “We have to save our country.”

His announcement comes as some fellow Republicans blame him for the party’s lacklustre performance in last week’s midterm elections.

President Joe Biden, who defeated Donald Trump two years ago, has said he may run for re-election in 2024.

Speaking to an invited crowd from the ballroom of his Mar-a-Lago private club in Palm Beach, Donald Trump said: “We are a nation in decline.

“For millions of Americans, the past two years under Joe Biden have been a time of pain, hardship, anxiety and despair.”

He continued: “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.”

“Donald Trump” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

Shortly before the speech, the former president filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission formally declaring his presidential candidacy and setting up a fundraising account.

Meanwhile, outside Mar-a-Lago, supporters gathered to wave Trump 2024 flags.

Donald Trump’s speech lasted for more than an hour and touched on many of the same themes he has been repeating on stage for months.

These included border security, energy independence and crime, as well as attacks on Joe Biden’s record in office.

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His wife, Melania Trump, joined him on stage at the end of the speech. But there were fewer family members present than at some of his past events and Ivanka Trump and Donald Jr did not attend.

At the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, President Biden was asked whether he had a reaction to Donald Trump’s announcement.

“No, not really,” he said. Last week, he was filmed laughing when a reporter suggested Donald Trump’s support base remained strong.

Donald Trump’s unusually early declaration for the election of November 5, 2024 is being seen as a tactic to steal a march on potential rivals for the Republicans’ White House nomination.

Although he is the first to enter the race and instantly becomes the front-runner, he is expected to face challengers.

They may include his own former VP Mike Pence, 63, and rising star Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44.

In his remarks, Donald Trump largely steered clear of rehashing his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him by mass voter fraud.

He left office after one term in 2021, refusing to acknowledge his defeat by seven million votes.

His debunked conspiracy theories riled up supporters who rioted at Capitol Hill in the final days of his presidency as lawmakers met to certify President Biden’s victory.

Donald Trump became the first president ever to be impeached twice, although congressional Democrats were thwarted in their bid to remove him from office by Senate Republicans.

Photo Getty Images

Mike Pence has dismissed claims by Donald Trump that he could have stopped Joe Biden becoming president.

In his strongest rebuttal yet, the former vice-president said Donald Trump was wrong to suggest he had had the right to overturn the election.

Separately the Republican Party censured two of its top lawmakers for investigating the Capitol riots.

A mob stormed the Capitol as lawmakers met to confirm President Joe Biden’s poll win on January 6, 2021.

Four people died during the riots, and a police officer who suffered two strokes while defending the building died the following day.

The two legislators, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, are the only Republicans on a congressional select committee investigating the riots.

The statement by the Republican National Committee (RNC) accused Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger of helping to persecute “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse”.

The RNC appeared to suggest rioters had been involved in legitimate political actions but RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel clarified that it was a reference to “legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol”.

Who Stormed Capitol Building?

According to recent reports, the vote was passed by an overwhelming majority of the 168 RNC members at their winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The committee said it would “immediately cease any and all support of them” as party members without removing them from the party.

Both lawmakers issued statements in advance of the vote.

“The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon January 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,” Liz Cheney said.

They also received support from other opponents of Donald Trump in the party. 

Senator Mitt Romney tweeted: “Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol.”

Speaking in Orlando, Florida, Mike Pence was responding to Donald Trump’s comments on January 30 that he could have overturned the election if he had wanted to.

Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the election was stolen by Joe Biden.

Days later Donald Trump said the select committee should be investigating Mike Pence instead of the rioters.

Mike Pence responded: “President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone.

“And [current Vice-President] Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.”

Former President Donald Trump has sued New York state Attorney General Letitia James, seeking to block her from continuing to investigate his company.

He argues the state attorney has violated his constitutional rights by pursuing a politically-motivated probe.

Letitia James says the investigation “will continue undeterred”.

She opened a civil inquiry in 2019 into claims that – before he took office – Donald Trump had inflated the value of his assets to banks when seeking loans.

The lawsuit comes less than two weeks after Letitia James, a Democrat, indicated that Donald Trump, a Republican, could be questioned under oath next month as part of the inquiry.

The former president is also suspected of understating his assets to lower his taxes.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

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Letitia James’ office has been seeking documents on four Trump Organization properties in Manhattan, upstate New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Donald Trump has described the inquiry as a witch hunt.

Throughout his presidency from 2017 to 2021, Donald Trump resolutely refused to reveal his tax returns, despite coming under great pressure to do so.

Civil cases usually have to do with injury to individuals or other private parties, including businesses; criminal law applies in cases where the damage is thought to affect society at large, including the state.

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The Department of Justice has ordered the IRS to hand over former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to Congress.

The move reverses a 2019 finding that the request from the House Ways and Means Committee was “disingenuous”.

The DoJ decision appears to end a long legal battle over the records, and is seen as a sharp legal blow to Donald Trump.

Although not required by law, every president since 1976 – except Donald Trump – has released their tax returns.

Donald Trump is yet to publicly comment on the latest developments, although he still has ways to try to fight the ruling in court.

Republicans on Capitol Hill denounced the decision, describing it as politically motivated.

When he was president, Donald Trump repeatedly said he was under audit by the IRS and so could not release his tax returns – although the IRS has said an audit would not stop the release of the information.

The House Ways and Means Committee has previously argued that it required Donald Trump’s tax returns for an investigation into whether he complied with tax law.

The Trump-era justice department, however, refused to hand them over. It argued that the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives was seeking them for partisan political gain.

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Donald Trump’s 2005 Tax Returns Leaked

In an opinion released on July 30, the justice department’s Office of Legal Counsel determined that the committee “has invoked sufficient reasons” for requesting the tax information.

“Treasury must furnish the information to the Committee,” the opinion said.

Among those who praised the decision was Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said the American people “deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts and undermining of our security and democracy as president”.

In February, President Trump was ordered by the Supreme Court to hand over his tax returns and other financial records to prosecutors in New York.

The decision was a blow to Donald Trump, who had been in a legal battle to protect his records from a grand jury.

The former president has continuously denied any wrongdoing and has called the investigation into his tax affairs a “witch hunt”.

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Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against tech giants Google, Twitter and Facebook, claiming that he is the victim of censorship.

The class action lawsuit also targets the three companies’ CEOs.

The former president was suspended from his social accounts in January over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riots, led by his supporters.

On July 7, Donald Trump called the lawsuit “a very beautiful development for our freedom of speech”.

In a news conference from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Donald Trump railed against social media companies and Democrats, who he accused of espousing misinformation.

He said: “We are demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and cancelling that you know so well.”

The suit requests a court order to end alleged censorship. Donald Trump added if they could ban a president, “they can do it to anyone”.

None of the tech companies named have yet responded to the lawsuit, which was filed to a federal court in Florida.

Donald Trump was joined at the announcement by former Trump officials who have since created the not-for-profit America First Policy Institute.

The former president called the post that got him banned from Twitter, “the most loving sentence”.

According to Twitter, the tweets that resulted in Donald Trump’s ban for “glorification of violence” were from 8 January, two days after the rioting in the nation’s capital. The riot followed his repeated claims, without evidence, that the election was rigged in Joe Biden’s favor.

Donald Trump wrote that the “great patriots” who voted for him will have “a giant voice” and “will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form”, and in another post said he would not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

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At the same time on July 7, Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress released a memo describing their plan “to take on Big Tech”.

The agenda calls for antitrust measures to “break up” the companies, and a revamping of a law known as Section 230.

Section 230, which Donald Trump tried to repeal as president, essentially stops companies like Facebook and Twitter from being liable for the things that users post. It gives the companies “platform” rather than “publisher” status.

“It’s a liability protection the likes of which nobody in the history of our country has ever received,” he said, criticizing the law on July 7.

Donald Trump added that the law invalidates the companies’ statuses as private companies.

The lawsuit has been criticized by legal experts, who pointed to Donald Trump’s habit of issuing lawsuits for media attention but not aggressively defending the claims in court. His argument of free speech infringement has also been questioned by analysts, as the companies he accuses have those same First Amendment protections in determining content on their sites.

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“Donald Trump” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

According to recent reports, Donald Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its finance chief have been indicted in an investigation into alleged tax crimes.

Allen Weisselberg, 73, turned himself in to authorities in New York on July 1, ahead of the expected unsealing of as-yet-unknown charges.

The former president is not expected to be implicated personally in the case.

New York City has already cut business ties with the twice-impeached former president.

The Trump Organization is a family holding company that owns hotels, golf clubs and other properties.

Any criminal charges brought against the company would mark the first in long-running investigations on alleged fraud by both the Manhattan district attorney and the state attorney general.

Charges by District Attorney Cyrus Vance are expected to focus on whether Allen Weisselberg and other company executives received benefits such as apartment rentals or leased cars without reporting them properly on their tax returns.

Allen Weisselberg entered Manhattan’s criminal court building on July 1, the New York Times said. He and at least one other Trump Organization representative are expected to appear in court later in the day.

Donald Trump and his allies have said the investigations are politically motivated.

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In a statement this week, Allen Weisselberg said the case was looking at “things that are standard practice throughout the US business community, and in no way a crime”.

If the company is found guilty, however, certain business partners might draw a line under their relationship with the Trump Organization and the company could face fines.

New York City has already announced it will terminate contracts with Donald Trump’s company to run skating rinks, a carousel and a golf course, in the aftermath of the Capitol riots.

Daniel Goldman, who was lead lawyer in the House of Representatives for the first impeachment of President Trump in 2019, tweeted that the indictment could spur lenders to call in their loans, driving the Trump Organization to bankruptcy.

The investigations will also take into account eight years of Donald Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns, obtained by prosecutors after a long legal battle, which ended in the Supreme Court in February.

Donald Trump, who inherited money from his father and went on to become a property developer, is the first president since Gerald Ford in the 1970s not to have made his tax returns public.

Despite facing a number of investigations, Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing personally or in his business.

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Image source Wikipedia

Donald Trump has urged his Republican supporters to be vaccinated against Covid-19, saying he would recommend it.

In a TV interview, the former president said the vaccine was “safe” and “something that works”.

Donald Trump’s conservative fan base has been one of the main groups resistant to the vaccine program.

The former president himself was criticized during his time in office for playing down the seriousness of the pandemic.

As the vaccination program has been rolled out across the United States, all other living ex-presidents have spoken out, urging Americans to get the jab.

However, Donald Trump has remained largely quiet on the subject.

The former president and his wife, Melania, were vaccinated at the White House in secret in January.

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President Trump Permanently Suspended from Twitter

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Donald Trump said during an interview on Fox News Primetime on March 16: “I would recommend it.

“I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly.”

He added: “It’s a great vaccine, it’s a safe vaccine and it’s something that works.”

A recent poll by CBS News suggested that a third of Republican supporters would not have the vaccine when it was available to them, compared to 10% of Democrats.

Donald Trump’s comments came a day after his successor, President Joe Biden, expressed frustration at the reluctance among some conservatives to get the shot.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on March 15: “If former President Trump woke up tomorrow and wanted to be more vocal about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, certainly we’d support that.”

She added: “Every other living president… has participated in public campaigns. They did not need an engraved invitation to do so.”

YouTube may lift Donald Trump’s suspension, if the threat of “real-world violence” decreases, Susan Wojcicki, the platform’s CEO, has said.

She said the company will look at government warnings and violent rhetoric to determine when it’s safe to lift the suspension.

Following the Capitol Hill riot on January 6 that left five dead, Donald Trump’s account was suspended.

YouTube said the former president had violated their incitement of violence policy.

President Trump Permanently Suspended from Twitter

Pro-Trump Protesters Storm Capitol Building

Susan Wojcicki said during an interview with the Atlantic Council on March 4: “It’s pretty clear that right now where we stand, that there still is that elevated risk of violence.”

She clarified that Donald Trump’s conduct had not led to a full ban on the platform.

YouTube operates under a three strike system and an account must receive all three strikes within 90 days to be permanently removed.

The suspension in January was Donald Trump’s first strike.

Rudy Giuliani, the former personal attorney to Donald Tump, received his second strike earlier this week for claiming the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Typically, a first strike results in a seven day suspension of an account, but Donald Trump’s has been prolonged due to a continued risk of violence.

After a large group of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on January 6, the former president was banned across many social media outlets.

Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and suspended from Facebook.

Facebook’s Oversight Committee is currently looking at whether that suspension should be made permanent – however it’s not yet clear when they will rule.

Criminal charges have been filed for a reported 221 people involved in the Capitol riot.

Image source Flickr

Donald Trump is giving his first speech since leaving office as president at the Conservative Political Action Conference (C-PAC).

His public appearance comes just weeks after he was acquitted during an impeachment trial which saw some members of his own Republican Party vote against him.

The former president is expected to attack the actions being taken by successor Joe Biden in the Florida speech.

The C-PAC appearance represents his continued influence over Republicans.

The mood of the conference so far has been extremely pro-Trump, with loyalists including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and his son Donald Trump Jr. among the speakers confirmed.

Donald Trump’s speech was hotly anticipated by his supporters, given his relative absence from the political spotlight since leaving office.

He remains banned from social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, over his response to January’s deadly riot at the US Capitol.

He has been living at his Mar-a-Lago Florida golf resort since leaving the White House.

According to prepared script excerpts sent by his office ahead of time, Donald Trump will attack early actions by President Joe Biden during the speech – especially on immigration.

He is also set to focus on what he will describe as the future of “our movement” during the speech, amid a divide among some Republicans over the party’s future political direction.

He is expected to say that the “incredible journey” that he and supporters “began together four years ago is far from over”. But Donald Trump is not expected to confirm another presidential run in 2024 yet, according to a senior adviser quoted by CBS.

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Donald Trump Jr. trailed his father’s appearance during his own speech on February 26.

He told the audience: “I imagine it will not be what we call a low energy speech, and I assure you that it will solidify Donald Trump and all of your feelings about the MAGA [Make America Great Again] movement as the future of the Republican party.”

Members of the Republican Party remained largely loyal to Donald Trump during his time in office but 10 voted to impeach him in the House of Representatives last month and seven voted to convict him in the subsequent Senate trial. The overall tally, 57-43 in favor of his guilt, fell short of the two-thirds margin needed to convict Donald Trump.

The schism in the party has remained since, with those who have broken rank against him notably absent from the CPAC stage.

The C-PAC, which began in 1974, is seen as the most influential gathering of conservatives and a barometer of the Republican party’s political direction.

Despite losing November’s presidential election and being deeply criticized over the January riot by some of his supporters, reports suggest Donald Trump remains extremely popular among his voting base.

Last week, one poll suggested 46% of surveyed Trump voters would vote for him on a third-party ticket rather than another Republican candidate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Congress will establish an “outside, independent” commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

In a letter to lawmakers, Nancy Pelosi said the commission would be modeled on the inquiry into the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

She said: “We must get to the truth of how this happened.”

Former President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate of inciting the violence.

However, Democrats and some Republicans have backed an independent investigation into the riots, which left five people dead.

Nancy Pelosi said that retired US Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré had, over the past few weeks, been assessing the security needs of the Capitol in light of the attack.

The commission, Nancy Pelosi said, “would investigate and report on the facts and causes” of the attack; “the interference with the peaceful transfer of power”; and the “preparedness and response” of both the Capitol police and other branches of law enforcement.

She also said that, based on Lt. Gen. Honoré’s initial findings, Congress needed to allocate additional funding to “provide for the safety of members and the security of the Capitol”.

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A group of House Republicans wrote to Nancy Pelosi on February 15 complaining that their party had not been consulted about the general’s security review.

In the letter, they also demanded to know what Nancy Pelosi knew and the instructions she gave to secure the Capitol ahead of January 6.

House Republican Adam Kinzinger, who called for Donald Trump’s removal after the riots, was condemned by 11 members of his family in a handwritten letter, in which they said he was in cahoots with “the devil’s army”.

Donald Trump survived his second impeachment trial on February 13, after Democrat prosecutors failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed to convict him. He is the only president to have faced the process twice.

The vote split largely along party lines, with seven Republicans joining the Senate’s 48 Democrats and two independents in voting to convict.

The senior Republican in Congress, Senator Mitch McConnell, had voted against conviction on constitutional grounds, but after the vote declared Donald Trump “responsible” for the assault on the Capitol.

Other Republicans have also expressed support for an independent inquiry into the riots, including a close ally of Donald Trump, Senator Lindsay Graham.

Former President Donald Trump has been acquitted of inciting mob to attack the Capitol after the Senate voted 57 to 43.

Seven Republicans (Senators Sasse, Romney, Burr, Collins, Murkowski, Toomey and Cassidy) joining Democrats on the charge of incitement.

Democrats needed two-thirds of the Senate to vote guilty to convict.

Impeachment charges are political, not criminal. An impeachment acquittal essentially means the Senate did not find cause to remove a president from office.

If DonaldTrump had been convicted, the Senate could also have voted to prevent the former president from ever holding office again.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives approved the article of impeachment on January 13, with the support of 10 Republicans.

It was the verdict everyone expected, but the day was not without its drama. Seven Republicans voted along with Democrats to convict Donald Trump of inciting the violent attack on the Capitol last month.

In the end, they didn’t get the two-thirds majority they needed.

Donald Trump is the first president to be impeached twice and has set a record with the most votes to convict by members of his own party.

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After Donald Trump was acquitted, first up was the leader of the Democrats in the Senate.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer: “January 6 will live as a day of infamy in the United States. The failure to convict Donald Trump will live as a vote of infamy in the history of the United States Senate.”

He criticized the 43 senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump who effectively “signed their names alongside his” in the history books.

The Democratic senator insisted one thing is certain – that Trump’s legacy will be embroiled in this scandal forevermore, making it nearly impossible for him to ever hold elected office again.

As the senator spoke, however, the Trump team released a statement promising a future for the Make America Great Again movement. Without a conviction, there is nothing barring Donald Trump from holding office again.

Whether Donald Trump runs again remains to be seen. But he will certainly wield his influence in other ways.

Donald Trump once again avoided conviction by the Senate because his fellow Republicans, by and large, stuck by his side.

He did not emerge from this impeachment trial unscathed, however.

One of the most memorable portions of the prosecution case by House managers were the new videos of Trump’s supporters, wearing Make America Great Again hats and waving Trump flags, ransacking the Capitol.

Those images will forever be associated with the Trump brand. Every rally he holds from here on will evoke memories of that riot.

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Image source Pixabay

The Biden administration will start gradually allowing into the US tens of thousands of asylum seekers currently forced to wait in Mexico.

It will begin next week processing about 25,000 people with active cases.

Asylum seekers will first be required to register and pass a Covid-19 test, before being allowed in via one of three border crossings.

The move reverses the much-criticized policies of ex-President Donald Trump.

The Migrant Protection Protocols program was enacted in 2019, deterring would-be asylum seekers from coming to the US.

It required migrants entering through the southern border to wait in Mexico while their cases were being heard by US immigration courts.

However, on his first day in office since winning last year’s election, President Joe Biden suspended the policy.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said: “As President Biden has made clear, the US government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system.

“This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values.”

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According to the Associated Press, the Biden administration plans to start with two border crossings each processing up to 300 people a day and a third crossing taking fewer numbers.

The authorities say asylum seekers will be released with notices to appear in court in cities close to or in their final destinations, typically with family.

At the same time, Alejandro Mayorkas stressed that “individuals who are not eligible under this initial phase should wait for further instructions and not travel to the border”, amid concerns that many people would try to cross the border illegally.

February 12 announcement was welcomed in a sprawling migrant camp in the Mexican city of Matamoros, just across the border from Texas.

The border cities where migrants wait for months are suffering from growing crime rates.

In 2020, charity Human Rights First said “returned families, children and adults are being sent to highly dangerous situations where many suffered kidnappings, attacks, sexual assaults, threats and other incredible cruelty”.

Image source: White House

President Joe Biden has decided to rescind the national emergency order used to fund Donald Trump’s border wall.

In a letter to Congress on February 11, President Biden wrote that the order was “unwarranted” and said that no further tax dollars will be spent on the wall.

The former president declared a state of emergency over the southern border in 2019, which allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds for its construction.

When Donald Trump left office, about $25 billion had been spent on the project.

The announcement from President Biden is the latest in a series of executive orders that have rolled back key parts of the former president’s agenda.

Last week, Joe Biden signed orders seeking to reunite migrant families split up by Trump-era policies, and ordered a probe of his predecessor’s immigration agenda.

In a letter on February 11, President Biden wrote that he would also seek a review of “all resources appropriated or redirected” to the construction of the wall.

Building a border wall was a signature pledge of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

However, the project faced strong opposition in the Democratic-controlled House, and the Republican president announced he would use emergency powers to fund its construction.

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An emergency declaration allows US presidents to circumvent the usual political process and to access military funding.

Various types of fencing totaling 654 miles were already in place before Donald Trump became president in 2017.

During his time in office, 80 miles of new barriers were built where there were none before, and almost 400 miles replaced existing parts of the structure.

Former Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller took to Twitter to comment on the decision, writing “Biden loves illegal immigration”.

However, some parts of the Trump administration’s immigration policy will be left in place.

At a press conference on February 10, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared to confirm the new administration would keep a Trump-era policy that allowed border officials to summarily expel undocumented immigrants amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “Due to the pandemic and the fact that we have not had the time, as an administration, to put in place a humane, comprehensive process for processing individuals who are coming to the border.

“Now is not the time to come, and the vast majority of people will be turned away.”

The impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional, the US Senate has found on February 9.

Therefore, the Senate is allowing full impeachment proceedings to begin.

Donald Trump’s defense team argued that he could not face trial after leaving the White House.

A 56-44 majority voted in favor of continuing, with a handful of Republicans backing the measure.

Donald Trump is accused of “inciting insurrection” when Congress was stormed on January 6.

Thousands gathered in support of claims that widespread electoral fraud denied Donald Trump victory in the presidential election.

However, Donald Trump is almost certain to be acquitted because only six Republican senators voted to move forward with impeachment, well short of the 17 Republicans whose votes would be needed to convict the former president.

Democrats prosecuting the case opened the proceedings by showing a dramatic video montage of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech and the deadly rioting by some of his supporters.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said of the footage: “If that’s not an impeachable offence, then there’s no such thing.”

Donald Trump’s lawyers argued it was unconstitutional to put a former president through the process at all and accused Democrats of being politically motivated.

A two-thirds majority is required to convict Donald Trump in the evenly split 100-seat Senate. February 9 vote implies loyalty toward Donald Trump in the Republican Party remains high enough to avoid a conviction.

However, if convicted, the former president could be barred from holding office again.

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Proceedings opened with impeachment managers – the Democrats tasked with leading the prosecution – arguing their attempts were legitimate.

In the 10-minute video used in their presentation, Donald Trump was shown telling his supporters to “fight like hell” before they stormed the Capitol in violence that resulted in five deaths – including a police officer.

Rep. Jamie Raskin was brought to tears as he recounted fear for his own family’s safety during the riot after he was separated from his visiting daughter.

“This cannot be the future of America,” he told senators, who act as jurors for impeachment.

“We cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions because they refuse to accept the will of the people under the Constitution of the United States.”

Rep. Raskin argued there could be no “January exception” to impeaching outgoing officials without risking a dangerous precedent.

Donald Trump’s lawyers then took the stand to outline their arguments with detailed complaints and allegations about due process and the constitutionality of proceedings.

Former Pennsylvania prosecutor Bruce Castor opened the defense with a meandering presentation that was met with a critical reception by even allies of the former president.

A second lawyer, David Schoen, was more pointed. He showed videos dating back to 2017 as evidence of what he labeled as an “insatiable lust for impeachment” among Democratic lawmakers.

He told senators: “What they really want to accomplish here in the name of the Constitution is to bar Donald Trump from ever running for political office again, but this is an affront to the Constitution no matter who they target today.”

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the six to vote with Democrats, said after that the House prosecution had “made a compelling, cogent case and the president’s team did not”.

Media reports suggest Donald Trump – whose Twitter account has been banned – expressed anger at his lawyers’ performance while watching on TV from Florida.

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The Trump administration’s rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine calling it “chaotic” and “very limited”, President Joe Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain has said.

Ron Klain said there was no plan in the federal government for the distribution of vaccines across the United States.

President Joe Biden, who took office on January 20, has promised 100 million vaccine shots in his first 100 days.

The US has now reported more than 25 million Covid-19 cases.

About 417,500 deaths have been linked to the new coronavirus. In recent weeks, the daily number of Covid-linked deaths in the US has, on some days, exceeded 4,000.

President Biden signed a raft of new measures last week, including boosting vaccinations and testing. He has urged Americans to wear masks and warned that the death toll could get much worse.

His efforts follow widespread criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic and of the vaccination program.

Vaccines have been distributed to states, and states and cities are carrying out the inoculations. But some have complained they are struggling with supply.

According to the CDC, about 41 million doses had been distributed by January 23 across the country, but only 20.5 million had been administered.

Speaking to NBC News, Ron Klain said: “The process to distribute the vaccine, particularly outside of nursing homes and hospitals out into the community as a whole, did not really exist when we came into the White House.”

He said it was a “complex” process but that the Biden administration would set up federal vaccination sites to help states without enough places.

Covid- 19 infections have spiraled in recent months – with a jump in new infections after Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Hospital numbers hit their highest levels during the pandemic earlier this month but are slowly starting to drop alongside daily cases.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci said on January 21 that rolling average data appeared to show infections leveling off.

Although the national picture has stabilized slightly, he warned the country remained in a “very serious situation”.

The CDC is particularly concerned that new variants could accelerate the virus spread.

The strain has been detected in 20 states, Dr. Fauci said January 21, but warned the country had “limited ability” to track its spread through the population.

President Biden has already enacted a raft of executive measures to combat the virus and he wants Congress to pass a $1.9tn package of economic relief funding.

He is hoping to get bipartisan approval for his broad stimulus agenda, but the proposal has already been met with skepticism and resistance by some Republicans.

Another one of the new president’s key promises is to oversee 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office, but some have criticized this policy as not ambitious enough.

The current approved suppliers – Moderna and Pfizer – have pledged to deliver 200 million doses by March. Dr. Fauci has also suggested emergency approval of a third vaccine, a single-dose jab by Johnson & Johnson, could be just weeks away.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was appointed chief medical adviser by the new president, has expressed hope that if 70-85% of the US population is vaccinated by the end of summer, the country could “approach a degree of normality” by autumn.

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Image source: AP

Joe Biden has become America’s 46th president, ending one of the most dramatic political transitions in the US history.

After taking the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, Joe Biden said: “Democracy has prevailed.”

President Biden has announced a raft of measures reversing Trump policies.

In his inaugural address, Joe Biden said it was a day of “history and hope”.

“My whole soul is in putting America back together again,” he added.

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Highlighting a message of unity after the turbulent Trump years, Joe Biden promised to be a president “for all Americans” – including those who voted against him.

He has set out a flurry of executive orders. In a statement on January 2, Joe Biden said he would sign 15 orders after he is sworn in. Among them are:

  • Reverse Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate change agreement;
  • Revoke the presidential permit granted to the Keystone XL Pipeline, which is opposed by environmentalists and Native American groups;
  • Revoke Trump policies on immigration enforcement and the emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a Mexican border wall;
  • Bring about a mask and distancing mandate for federal employees and in federal buildings, and a new White House office on coronavirus;
  • End a travel ban on visitors from some, mainly Muslim, nations.

Other orders will cover race and gender equality, along with climate issues.

Joe Biden’s legislative ambitions could be tempered by the slender majorities he holds in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

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Image source: Getty Images

Joe Biden has become the 46th president of the United States, ending one of the most dramatic political transitions in American history.

After taking the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, Joe Biden said: “Democracy has prevailed.”

Donald Trump – who has not formally conceded the presidency to Joe Biden – snubbed the inauguration ceremony, in a departure from longstanding precedent.

He was the first president not to attend his successor’s inauguration since 1869.

President Biden has announced a raft of measures reversing Trump policies.

Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice-president ahead of Joe Biden.

She is the first woman – and the first black and Asian-American person – to serve in a role, a heartbeat from the presidency.

The inauguration took place at the Capitol, where an extra-tight security was imposed after the building was stormed by violent pro-Trump protesters in a deadly riot on January 6.

Some 25,000 National Guards are protecting the ceremony, which is missing the traditional hundreds of thousands of spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In his inaugural address, Joe Biden said it was a day of “history and hope”.

“My whole soul is in putting America back together again,” he added.

Highlighting a message of unity after the turbulent Trump years, Joe Biden promised to be a president “for all Americans” – including those who voted against him.

Among those attending the inauguration ceremony were three of Joe Biden’s predecessors: Barack Obama – under whom Biden served for eight years as vice-president – Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Former VP Mike Pence also attended. He skipped Donald Trump’s farewell military salute event.

The inauguration ceremony included musical performances by Lady Gaga – who sang the national anthem – as well as Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks.

An evening concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC will be hosted by Tom Hanks and include Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Jon Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, and Demi Lovato.

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Earlier on the day, Joe Biden, 78, attended Mass at a cathedral in Washington – along with four Roman Catholic congressional leaders, both Democrats and Republicans.

Donald Trump left the White House at about 08:00AM on January 20, and flew to the nearby Andrews Air Force base.

In his farewell address at the base, Donald Trump highlighted what he regarded as the successes of his presidency.

He said: “What we’ve done has been amazing by any standard.”

Donald Trump, 74, then left for his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida, where he arrived later in the morning.

In his last hours as president, Donald Trump granted clemency to more than 140 people, including his former adviser Steve Bannon, who had been facing fraud charges.

The political drama surrounding Donald Trump is far from over. The Senate is expected to put him on trial soon, following his record second impeachment by the House of Representatives for allegedly inciting the Capitol riot.

On January 19, the Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, said the mob had been provoked by Donald Trump and fed lies.

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Image source: Getty Images

On inauguration day, President Donald Trump’s office is cleaned out, swept of signs that he and his staff had ever been there, ready for the Biden team to move in.

The cleaning out of White House’s West Wing offices, and the transition between presidents, is part of a tradition that dates back centuries. It’s a process that has not always been imbued with warmth.

Another impeached president, Andrew Johnson, a Democrat, snubbed Republican Ulysses S Grant in 1869 and skipped the inauguration. Ulysses Grant, who had backed Andrew Johnson’s removal from office, was hardly surprised.

Today, however, the transition stands out for its acrimony. The process usually starts straight after the election, but it started weeks late after President Trump refused to accept the result. And the president has said he will not attend the inauguration. Most likely, Donald Trump will instead travel to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Even in the best of times, the logistics of a transition are daunting, involving the transfer of knowledge and employees on a massive scale.

About 4,000 political appointees hired by the Trump administration who will lose their job and be replaced by individuals hired by Joe Biden.

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During an average transition, between 150,000-300,000 people apply for these jobs, according to the Center for Presidential Transition, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington. About 1,100 of the positions also require Senate confirmation. Filling all of these positions takes months, even years.

Four years of policy papers, briefing books and artefacts relating to the president’s work will be carted off to the National Archives where they will be kept secret for 12 years, unless the president himself decides that portions may be released early.

Furniture in the White House, such as the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, most of the artwork, china and other objects, belong to the government and will remain on the premises.

Other items, like photos of the president that hang in the hallway, will be taken down as the White House is transformed for its new occupants.

The Trumps’ personal belongings, such as clothes, jewellery, and other items will be moved to their new residence, most likely at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

This year, the place will be deep cleaned.

President Trump, as well as dozens of others at the White House, were infected with the coronavirus over the past several months, and the six-floor building, with its 132 rooms, will be thoroughly scrubbed down. Everything from handrails to elevator buttons to restroom fixtures will be wiped and sanitized, according to a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, the federal agency that oversees the housekeeping effort.

Incoming first families usually do some redecoration. Within days of arriving at the White House, Donald Trump had chosen a portrait of populist president Andrew Jackson for the Oval Office. He also replaced the drapes, couches and a rug in the office with ones that were gold-colored. On inauguration day, VP Mike Pence and his wife will also make way for Kamala Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff. They will be settling into their official residence, a 19th Century residence on the Naval Observatory grounds, a couple of miles from the White House.

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Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take the oath to make them officially president and vice-president, but this will be a much scaled back affair, due to Covid and the recent riots.

The inauguration of a new president is a day that usually follows decades of custom and precedent. A day that follows a routine set in stone. Well, you can forget all that this year.

Here’s everything you need to know about the big day.

What is the inauguration?

The inauguration is the formal ceremony that marks the start of a new presidency, and it takes place in Washington DC.

The only required feature is that the president-elect recite the presidential oath of office.

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Once he utters these words, Joe Biden will then take his place as the 46th president and the inauguration will be complete (but that’s not all – celebrations follow).

Kamala Harris will become vice-president once she takes the oath of office, which usually happens just before the president.

What time is the inauguration?

Opening remarks are usually scheduled for around 11:30 EST and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in around midday. By law, inauguration day is always January 20.

Joe Biden will move into the White House later in the day – his home for the next four years.

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Presidential inaugurations typically involve detailed security plans, but even more so now, after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on January 6.

Officials have ramped up security and closed off large sections of the city. The Secret Service has taken command of the security plans, backed up by some 25,000 National Guard troops, in addition to thousands of police officers.