Eric Trump blames Biden administration after FBI raid on Mar-A-Lago
FBI chief Christopher Wray has criticised “deplorable” and “dangerous” threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department after the agency’s raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Mr Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
As the fallout from the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago continues with rumours of a Trumpworld informant tipping off authorities, Mr Trump yesterday pleaded the fifth amendment in his sworn deposition to the long-running New York State probe into his real estate dealings.
Mr Trump has repeatedly condemned the investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt”. His children Ivanka and Donald Jr both recently gave depositions in the civil investigation after months fighting against subpoenas for their testimony.
Meanwhile, reports have revealed that before its raid on Monday, the FBI had already obtained surveillance tapes from Mar-a-Lago via a subpoena to the Trump Organization. The former president has claimed without providing proof that agents may have planted evidence at his home.
‘Dark Brandon’ is reclaiming far-right memes, but experts have a warning…
After a string of “good news” for the Biden agenda, White House officials elevated a meme from terminally online obscurity, reclaiming ironic images of a tired and gaffe-prone president cast as a demi-god-like figure.
Alex Woodward reports on the “Dark Brandon” phenomenon.
‘Dark Brandon’ reclaims far-right memes. Extremism experts warn against normalisation
The fascist ‘Dark MAGA’ aesthetic flourished in fringe online spaces with explicit calls for violence. Liberals embraced Joe Biden’s ironic transformation as a laser-eyed antidote, Alex Woodward reports
Andrew Naughtie11 August 2022 10:05
GOP congressman whose phone was seized by FBI goes silent on Fox News
Hardcore right-wing Arizona Congressman Scott Perry saw the FBI seize his cell phone on Tuesday, with the precise reason still unclear. However, it is reported to be in connection with the bureau’s probe into plans to overturn the 2020 election via the deployment of fake electors in Congress on 6 January 2021.
Mr Perry was outraged by the seizure of his phone, and appeared on Fox News last night to discuss it. But when asked whether the FBI has got his phone back, he went eerily silent:
Mr Perry’s name has come up in the 6 January hearings, where it was revealed that he sought a blanket pardon from the Trump White House after the Capitol attack – this having been an enthusiastic participant in efforts to subvert Joe Biden’s victory.
Graeme Massie has more on the still-mysterious phone incident.
Trump ally Scott Perry says FBI have seized his phone following Mar-a-Lago raid
Pennsylvania congressman a leading supporter of former president’s electoral fraud claims
Andrew Naughtie11 August 2022 09:40
Christopher Wray makes first public response to FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke publicly on Wednesday afternoon for the first time about his bureau’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. He couldn’t offer much.
FBI director Wray makes first public comment on search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
Mr Wray says he can’t talk about the raid as some Republicans decry his leadership
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 09:00
FBI director calls online threats against federal agents and DOJ ‘deplorable’
FBI director Christopher Wray called threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department “deplorable and dangerous.”
“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Mr Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
Mr Wray spoke on Wednesday afternoon for the first time about the FBI’s search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence – though he declined to go into details.
“As I’m sure you can appreciate, that’s not something I can talk about,” Mr Wray told reporters in Omaha, Nebraska.
Maroosha Muzaffar11 August 2022 08:45
‘We owe you big’: Jon Stewart receives standing ovation at PACT Act signing
Comedian and activist Jon Stewart received a standing ovation as President Joe Biden signed into law the PACT Act, which will provide life-saving care to veterans who have been exposed to burn pits.
Mr Biden personally thanked Mr Stewart for his advocacy on the issue during Wednesday’s White House signing, saying: “What you have done, Jon, matters, and you know it does. You should know it really, really matters.
“You refused to let anybody forget, you refused to let them forget, and we owe you big man, we owe you big.”
Jon Stewart receives standing ovation at PACT Act signing
‘What you have done, Jon, matters,’ Biden tells Stewart
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 08:15
Informant reportedly told FBI about classified docs at Mar-a-Lago
An insider with knowledge of what government records former president Donald Trump still possessed more than 18 months after he left the White House reportedly tipped off FBI officials to a cache of classified documents at the ex-president’s Palm Beach, Florida home and office.
According to Newsweek, two “senior government officials” have said the Monday search of Mr Trump’s rooms at Mar-a-Lago — the mansion turned private club where he spends most of his year — came after a confidential FBI source provided agents with information on “what classified documents [Mr Trump] was still hiding and … the location of those documents”.
The officials also said the search of the ex-president’s property was based on concerns that Mr Trump was unlawfully holding on to classified national defence information.
Trumpworld informant reportedly told FBI about classified docs at Mar-a-Lago
The search of Donald Trump’s Florida residence comes after a FBI source reportedly revealed that the ex-president was concealing classified national defence information from the government he once led
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 07:30
Video juxtaposes Fox News coverage of Clinton’s email scandal with footage of Trump raid
Fox News has not been enamoured of the FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence as the former president’s legal troubles rapidly mount.
Fox News hosts and other leading figures in the Republican Party and conservative movement have decried the FBI’s raid on Mr Trump’s residence as an politically motivated overreach of government power. But as a Daily Show video juxtaposing Fox News commentary on the FBI investigation of the Hillary Clinton’s email scandal with footage of Mr Trump shows, the network’s hosts have not always been so opposed to FBI intervention.
Mashup video juxtaposes Fox News coverage of Clinton email scandal, Trump raid
The Daily Show reminds viewers that Fox News was all in favour of an FBI investigation when Mr Trump’s opponent was the one being investigated
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 06:45
Meet the Florida blogger who broke the Trump Mar-a-Lago raid
Just after 6.30pm on Monday night, FloridaPolitics.com publisher Peter Schorsch landed the biggest news scoop of the year.
Bevan Hurley spoke to reporter Peter Schorsch on how he broke the biggest political story of the summer.
Meet the Florida blogger who broke the Trump Mar-a-Lago raid without even knowing it
Florida reporter Peter Schorsch speaks to Bevan Hurley about how he landed the scoop that the FBI was raiding Mar-a-Lago
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 06:00
Biden heads to South Carolina to begin summer vacation with family
President Joe Biden left Washington on Wednesday to begin what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation in South Carolina with members of his family.
Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, departed the White House by motorcade to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital, where Air Force One was on hand to take them to Charleston. The first couple was planning to be in Kiawah Island, noted for its private beach and golf resort, through Tuesday, according to Federal Aviation Administration advisories.
Biden begins summer vacation with family in South Carolina
President Joe Biden left Washington on Wednesday to begin what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation in South Carolina with members of his family
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 05:15
Capitol rioter who posed in fake cell at CPAC says the left is trying to ‘criminalise his art’
A conservative activist and convicted participant in the attack on the US Capitol is lashing out at liberals after receiving widespread mockery for his portrayal of the supposed suffering of his comrades at a right-wing gathering over the weekend.
Brandon Straka claimed in a tweet on Monday that elements of the media were trying to have him prosecuted after he appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas over the weekend where he participated in a bizarre piece of performance art portraying himself as an imprisoned January 6 rioter.
John Bowden has the story.
Rioter who posed in fake cell says the left is trying to ‘criminalise his art’
Far-right activist was visited by Marjorie Taylor Greene in his ‘cell’
Oliver O’Connell11 August 2022 04:30