Related Video: Trump calls for ‘biggest protest ever’ if prosecutors investigating him do ‘anything illegal’
Donald Trump is reportedly ready to “burn it all down” as several investigations into his and his family’s conduct begin to close in on him.
The former president’s role in sowing distrust over the outcome of the 2020 election result is being looked at by the 6 January House Select Committee, while his company’s financial affairs are also being forensically examined by investigators in New York.
In a statement posted by spokesperson Liz Harrington on Tuesday, Mr Trump once against attacked the House committee investigating the Capitol riot, and said the panel should be focusing on Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rather than himself.
He wrote: “The Unselect Committee should be investigating why Nancy Pelosi did such a poor job of overseeing security and why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval, in that it has now been shown that he clearly had the right to do so!”
Mr Trump said over the weekend that he would like to pardon January 6 rioters, an idea that has been dismissed by many in the Republican Party including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Follow the latest developments.
Trump intervening in effort to unseat GOP Georgia governor
According to CNN, Donald Trump is ringing around potential Republican candidates for the Georgia gubernatorial primary in an effort to keep the field clear for David Purdue, one of the two Senators who lost his seat in January 2021, thus handing the Democrats their wafer-thin majority.
Andrew Naughtie2 February 2022 08:30
ICYMI: Former Pence chief of staff has testified to the Jan 6 committee
Marc Short — former chief of staff to Mike Pence — has testified privately last week to the House Select Committee that is investigating the 6 January Capitol riots.
A report by CNN said that Mr Short appeared in response to a subpoena from the committee. Investigators believe that the participation of Mr Pence and his inner circle is crucial.
Mr Short has firsthand knowledge of the former president’s pressure campaign on his vice president to overthrow the election results.
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 08:00
Trump says ‘Kemp let us down’
Donald Trump, appearing in an ad for Georgia’s Senator David Perdue, who wants to unseat Brian Kemp in midterm elections, said the governor “let us down.”
He said: “The Democrats walked all over Brian Kemp. He was afraid of Stacey ‘the Hoax’ Abrams. Brian Kemp let us down. We can’t let it happen again.”
Mr Trump called Mr Perdue an “outstanding man” adding that “he’s tough. He’s smart. He has my complete and total endorsement.”The former president also called Mr Kemp a “very weak governor.”
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 07:30
Trump says Jan 6’s ‘sole casualty’ was a ‘disgrace’
Talking about Ashli Babbitt — the rioter who was fatally shot while attempting to breach the Capitol Building on 6 January — the former president said that her death was a “disgrace.”
He said: “Don’t forget, with the exception of one young fine woman, nobody died on Jan. 6. They like to say five people, but nobody died on Jan. 6. The one who died was Ashli Babbitt.”
He continued: “She was killed by a ruthless man that never should have used his gun to shoot her. I think it’s a disgrace. In fact, they wanted to shield him, but he couldn’t get on television fast enough.”
Mr Trump said that “I saw his interview, and he thinks it was great that he shot her and killed her. And she didn’t have a gun. She didn’t have anything. There was no reason to do that. It was a disgrace.”
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 07:00
‘Our country is going to hell,’ Trump says
Donald Trump believes that “we have a great country that’s going to hell. And it’s going to hell very fast.”
During an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday night, Mr Trump was asked why he is keen to enter the “war zone” of American politics again, even though the former president has not announced anything yet. He said: “I’ve never had better poll numbers; I’ve never had better support within the party; and I’ve never had more support outside the party.”
He added: “It’s very simple: Our country is going to hell, and we were doing great.”
Talking about investigations against him, he said: “They were staging a coup. They were trying to get us out of office.
“They hit us, before I even got into office, with phony investigation. They continue, always continuing.”
Mr Trump believes that “our country is going to hell and we’re going to make American great again, again, I sort of say. And I smile, but there’s nothing to smile about, because our country is going bad. We’re not going to have a country much longer, if it keeps going. I don’t think any president has done this damage.”
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 06:25
Trump says Tom Rice should be ‘thrown out’
Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Republican South Carolina state representative Russell Fry — who is running against Republican Tom Rice.
Tom Rice was one of the GOP members who had voted for Donald Trump’s impeachment.
The former president called Mr Rice a “coward” and said that he should be “thrown out of office ASAP.”
He wrote: “Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, the coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left, and who actually voted against me on Impeachment Hoax #2, must be thrown out of office ASAP—and we have just the man to do it!”
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 06:00
Trump claims Russia-Ukraine tensions ‘unthinkable’ if he were in office
Donald Trump claimed that the current tense situation between Kiev and Moscow as Russia builds up troops along the Ukraine border “wouldn’t have happened” if he were still in office.
He said during an interview to Newsmax that had he been in office “this was not even thinkable. This wouldn’t have happened.”
The former president during a weekend rally had suggested that he would pardon all 6 January attendees facing several charges and sentences.
Earlier, Mr Trump had said that Russia controls Germany because of its dependence on Russian gas and that the Russia-Ukraine crisis is a European problem.
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 05:26
Donald Trump calls charges against 6 Jan attendees ‘out of proportion’
Former president Donald Trump said that the charges against attendees of 6 January are “out of proportion” and claimed that “these people are being persecuted.”
In an interview with Newsmax, Mr Trump said that the charges and sentences so far have been “like 20 times out of proportion. These people are being persecuted.”
He added: “These people are in jail, in a horrible, disgusting, dirty jail so bad that the court system – which is very left – is angry that people have to live like this. And some of these people are not guilty. Many of these people are not guilty.”
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 04:40
Donald Trump says Lindsey Graham is ‘wrong’ after senator claims Trump’s pardons inappropriate
After Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called Donald Trump’s promise to pardon all 6 January arrestees “inappropriate,” the former president lashed out at him and said that he is “wrong.”
During an interview with Newsmax, Mr Trump said: “Lindsey Graham’s wrong. I mean, Lindsey’s a nice guy, but he’s a RINO [Republican in name only]. Lindsey’s wrong.”
Mr Trump added: “I would absolutely be prepared, and Lindsey Graham doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about if he says that because you have to have equal justice.”
During a weekend rally, Mr Trump had suggested that he would pardon all 6 January arrestees — he considers them political prisoners, not offenders.
“It’s very, very unfair what’s happened to this group of people,” he added.
Maroosha Muzaffar2 February 2022 04:20
Trump admits he wanted Pence to ‘overturn’ election
Over the weekend, Donald Trump admitted he wanted Mike Pence to “overturn” the 2020 election outcome on 6 January last year.
“If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had ‘absolutely no right’ to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election?” Mr Trump seethed in a statement on Sunday. “Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!”
Nathan Place2 February 2022 04:00