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Say youre a person with eyes and ears, who has been conscious for the last 18 months and didnt receive a lobotomy at the MAGA Institute of Medicine from a doctor who looked suspiciously like Don Jr.If we asked you, Hey, do you think Donald Trump (1) tried to overturn the 2020 election and (2) broke any laws in doing so, you probably wouldnt need to consult an attorney or a legal textbook before answering, Uh, yeah? Isnt it pretty obvious?Youd likely be confident in stating as much because of all the groundwork Trump laid in the run up to the election wherein he was already claiming fraud; the time in September 2020 he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power; the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the violent insurrection in which he told his supporters to fight for him; and the endless articles detailing his attempts to stop Joe Biden from becoming president.

Unfortunately, courts of law have a different set of standards, and despite millions of people being able to say they saw what looked a lot like a crime being committed with their own eyes, Trump and his cronies cant just be indicted based on that. Which is why its nice to hear that, according to the Houses January 6 committee, they have actual evidencewhich could conceivably be turned over to the Department of Justice and brought as charges.

Per CNN:

Former President Donald Trumpand a right-wing lawyer were part of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot alleges ina court filingWednesday. The filing is part of an attempt to convince a judge to allow the panel access to emails from lawyerJohn Eastman, who is claiming attorney-client privilege. The committee said he helped to orchestrate the plot.

The filing is the most extensive release to date from the Houses January 6 investigators as they try to obtain Eastmans emailsand comes well before the House select committee releases its final report on its findings on Trump. House members have also signaled they may make a criminal referral to the Justice Department about Trump, depending on their findings, and the Houses arguments Wednesday could be seen as a preview of a case that could be made by federal prosecutors.

While Eastman and Trump have not been accused of any crimes, House members have suggested they may make a criminal referral to the Justice Department (the House itself does not have the ability to bring criminal charges). The evidence is mounting that there was a concerted effort to overturn the results of the election in so many different ways. And theres, in my view, a lot of information that President Trump knew about it and more, Senator Mazie Hirono said Thursday.

In the 61-page court filing, attorneys for the House panel wrote: Evidence and information available to the Committee establishes a good-faith belief that Mr. Trump and others may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts, and that Plaintiffs legal assistance was used in furtherance of those activities. The evidence supports an inference that President Trump and members of his campaign knew he had not won enough legitimate state electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election during the January 6 Joint Session of Congress, but the President nevertheless sought to use the Vice President to manipulate the results in his favor.

The panel cited Trump calling and meeting with state and federal officials as well as tweeting and rallying to persuade the public that the election was stolen.

The committee also noted the immense pressure Trump put on Mike Pence to block the certification of Bidens win, writing that he urged the vice president to delay the count to allow state legislatures to convene and select alternate electors. As we know, Trumps pressure campaign included calling Pence a pussy and saying the two wouldnt be friends anymore if the V.P. didnt pull through. At the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol, Trump told the crowd, I hope Mike is going to dotheright thing, and All Vice PresidentPencehas to do is send it back tothestates to recertify and we become president and you arethehappiest people, and MikePenceis going to have to come through for us, and if he doesnt, that will be [a] sad day for our country because youre sworn to uphold our Constitution, and MikePence, I hope youre going to stand up forthegood of our Constitution and forthegood of our country. And if youre not, Im going to be verydisappointedin you. I will tell you right now. Im not hearing good stories.

More here:
Shocker: Congress Has Evidence Trump May Have Engaged in a Criminal Conspiracy to Steal the Election - Vanity Fair

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Donald Trump could decide who gets the GOP nomination for attorney general of Texas and, in the process, could be a factor in runoffs farther down that partys ballot in May.

The former presidents endorsement of Ken Paxton, the besieged incumbent AG, was central to Paxtons first-place finish in the first round of the primaries. It wasnt enough Paxton is on his way to a runoff with Land Commissioner George P. Bush but it kept him alive.

If that race draws a crowd it will be at the top of the GOPs runoff ticket the voters Paxton and Bush lure to the polls will be voting in down-ballot races. And because runoffs typically have even lower turnout than primaries, small changes in who votes could have an outsize effect. A wave of Trump Republicans could be a boon to conservatives in other runoff races, and a bad omen for candidates who arent in the former presidents fold.

Paxtons TV commercials on the way to this weeks primary featured Trump as prominently as the candidates own name. Paxton had the blessing of the popular former president in a race where Republican voters were trying to pick and choose from four well-known candidates. That signal muted attacks from whistleblowers who said Paxton was misusing his public office to help a political donor and from a lingering 2015 felony securities fraud indictment against him that has never gone to trial.

Even with all of that, Paxton got 42.7% of the vote in Tuesdays primary. On the upside for Paxton, that was nearly twice the support Bush mustered, enough to finish first among the four candidates. On the downside, it means the incumbent failed to command even half of the support of the voters in his own party a sign that theyre willing to make a switch if the right candidate comes along.

Its going to be hard for those voters to ignore Trumps embrace. The former president remains popular with Texas Republicans, and he rebuffed Bushs courting in favor of Paxton.

Paxton has been up against establishment names before, running for speaker in 2011 against Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who he tried to paint as insufficiently conservative. That fell far short of success, despite the loud conservative activists who backed him. He topped a couple of mainstream Republicans in his first race for attorney general, but the electorate was different. He wasnt vying for votes from legislators in both political parties or even for the votes of Republican legislators. Instead, he was able to rely on conservative activists strength in a low-turnout GOP primary the same sort of primary he was in on Tuesday. He was in a runoff that year, too, which he won by almost 27 percentage points.

In 2018, no Republicans challenged him, but Democrat Justin Nelson came close in the general election, losing to the incumbent by 3.6 percentage points.

Paxton is wounded this time. Voters brushed off his indictment when they reelected him in 2018. The abuse of office allegations are new and were the focus of his three challengers, each of whom mostly agreed with him on policy while arguing that a nominee with ethical clouds over him would be an easier target for Democrats in November.

But Trump has a favorite in the race, and hes a favorite of the states Republican voters. In a February 2022 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, 80% of self-identified Republican voters had either a very or somewhat favorable opinion of the former president. More than half of those 52% were very favorable.

Bush has consistently positioned himself to the right of his father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and his uncle, former president George W. Bush. Hes tried to win Trumps favor, even opening his campaign by handing out drink Koozies with a drawing of Trump shaking his hand over the words, This is the only Bush that likes me. This is the Bush that got it right. I like him.

He likes Paxton more, however, and that makes a difference in a runoff. Most of the states Republican primary voters, even with their strong affection for the former president, voted against Trumps pick for attorney general. On the other hand, Trumps support might be the biggest reason the incumbent made it to the runoff.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Read more:
Analysis: Texas' GOP runoffs hinge on a name that's not on the ballot - The Texas Tribune

Former President Donald Trump announced he was creating his own social-media app in October 2021 after he was banned from several social-media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTubeBrandon Bell/Getty Images

Trump's Truth Social app launched in February after he was barred from Twitter and other platforms.

The former president hasn't yet posted on Truth Social, Axios reported.

In interviews he's spoken about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but hasn't posted about it on the app.

Former President Donald Trump hasn't yet posted on Truth Social, the social-media app he launched late February after being barred by Twitter and other platforms, Axios reported.

The social-media app came out on February 20 but is currently only available for US iPhone users. Its launch was plagued with technical hiccups: Many people who downloaded the app say they were unable to create accounts or were placed on waitlists.

As of Wednesday, Trump hadn't posted at all since the platform launched, according to Axios. Popular Information's Judd Legum also said late Thursday that Trump had not added any posts.

Insider was unable to verify these claims because Truth Social is still restricting access to the app.

Axios pointed out that Trump discussed Russia's invasion with Ukraine with multiple news outlets, but has yet to post his thoughts on Truth Social, where they would have garnered more interest in the app.

The only post on Trump's account is from its beta trial in mid-February, when he told users: "Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!"

Trump's account on the app had fewer than 80,000 followers as of Wednesday, Axios reported. Trump had close to 90 million Twitter followers before his account was suspended.

Trump announced he was creating his own social-media app in October 2021 after he was banned from several social-media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol siege. Trump has repeatedly criticized the platforms for removing his accounts, accusing them of censoring free speech.

Insider's Rosie Bradbury downloaded Truth Social the day after its launch, but was only able to create an account on her fifth attempt and has been on a wait list ever since. Truth Social said that "overwhelming demand" meant that that it had to limit how many people could create accounts.

Story continues

"We have resolved the performance bottlenecks with new user registration and validation, and are working through the new user waitlist at an accelerated rate," Truth Social said in a status update Wednesday.

The app's user interface looks a lot like Twitter, with the ability to "follow" other users, three tabs on each user's page to view their posts, posts and replies, and shared media, and a cover photo and circular profile picture for each account.

Truth Social's logo is also remarkably similar to that of British company Trailar, which fixes solar panels on trucks. An executive at the company told Insider in late February that it was considering legal action against Truth Social because of the similarity of the two logos.

As of Friday morning, Truth Social sits at the No. 11 spot on the Apple App Store's social-media rankings. It has a 4.2-star rating based on 36,300 reviews.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Read more:
Donald Trump reportedly has yet to post on Truth Social since he launched the social-media app 2 weeks ago - Yahoo News

Former President Donald Trump, who was impeached for threatening to withhold military aid to Ukraine among other issues, is now taking credit for weapons the country's military is using to stave off an invasion from Russia.

Trump on Wednesday told Maria Bartiromo, of Fox Business, that "Russia has gotten in deeper than they ever thought possible" because of "the weapons that I gave and that the Ukrainians used so well." The former Republican president's remarks are the latest in a series of conservative political and media figures swiveling from praising Russian President Vladimir Putin to backing Ukraine.

"This is a holocaust," said Trump. "This is a horrible thing that's happening. You're witnessing it, and you see it on television every night."

Trump, who has long been friendly with Putin, a week earlier praised the autocratic Russian leader during a political fundraiser, calling him "very smart" for steps he took leading up to the invasion of Ukraine.

"He's taking over a country, really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people and just walking right in," Trump said during the event at Mar-a-Lago. In January, Trump called possible military conflict between Russia and Ukraine a "European problem" in an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.

While in office, Trump was a frequent critic of NATO, a Cold War defense pact formed to prevent the expansion of Russian influence. At one point, Trump was reported to have considered pulling the U.S. out of NATO.

Notably, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The charges centered on allegations that Trump withheld $391 million worth of military aid to Ukraine to pressure its government into announcing a politically damaging investigation into Joe Biden, then a Democratic candidate for president.

At the time, Ukraine was fighting Russian-backed separatists. The U.S. military aid was given to Ukraine. Last week, Trump issued a statement taking credit for strengthening NATO and getting military aid to Ukraine.

Speaking during his appearance on Fox Business on Wednesday, Trump called for a stronger response to stop Russia, which he said is "not looking so good."

"You have to work out a deal," said Trump. "They have to stop killing these people. They're killing all these people. And they have to stop it, and they have to stop it now. But they don't respect the United States, and the United States is, likeI don't know, they don't do anything about it."

Trump said the U.S. should produce its own oil instead of buying it from Russia, adding, "These countries are not our friends."

"The biggest problem we have is that our president and our country is no longer respected," said Trump.

John Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser, speaking on Newsmax's television network on Wednesday criticized his former boss. He said Trump regularly complained about sanctions imposed by his administration on Russian oligarchs, and he "barely knew where Ukraine was."

"It just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians," he said.

During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Joe Biden got his biggest applause from lines praising Ukraine's resistance. He also outlined a range of sanctions his administration had taken against Russia for its invasion.

Biden said the Russian ruble had tumbled by 30 percent, and the country's stock market had tumbled by 40 percent of its value.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump for comment.

See the article here:
Donald Trump Says Ukrainians 'Use So Well' the Weapons He 'Gave' Them - Newsweek

Former President Donald Trump hasn't yet posted on Truth Social, the social-media app he launched late February after being barred by Twitter and other platforms, Axios reported.

The social-media app came out on February 20 but is currently only available for US iPhone users. Its launch was plagued with technical hiccups: Many people who downloaded the app say they were unable to create accounts or were placed on waitlists.

As of Wednesday, Trump hadn't posted at all since the platform launched, according to Axios. Popular Information's Judd Legum also said late Thursday that Trump had not added any posts.

Insider was unable to verify these claims because Truth Social is still restricting access to the app.

The only post on Trump's account is from its beta trial in mid-February, when he told users: Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!

Insider's Rosie Bradbury downloaded Truth Social the day after its launch, but was only able to create an account on her fifth attempt and has been on a wait list ever since. Truth Social said that "overwhelming demand" meant that that it had to limit how many people could create accounts.

"We have resolved the performance bottlenecks with new user registration and validation, and are working through the new user waitlist at an accelerated rate," Truth Social said in a status update Wednesday.

The app's user interface looks a lot like Twitter, with the ability to "follow" other users, three tabs on each user's page to view their posts, posts and replies, and shared media, and a cover photo and circular profile picture for each account.

Truth Social's logo is also remarkably similar to that of British company Trailar, which fixes solar panels on trucks. An executive at the company told Insider in late February that it was considering legal action against Truth Social because of the similarity of the two logos.

See more here:
Donald Trump reportedly has yet to post on Truth Social, the social-media app he launched nearly 2 weeks ago - Business Insider Africa