Home Tags Posts tagged with "trump campaign"

trump campaign

0

The long-awaited Durham report has strongly criticised the FBI’s handling of its investigation into alleged ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

In a 306-page report, special counsel John Durham said the FBI’s inquiry had lacked “analytical rigor”.

John Durham concluded the FBI had not possessed “actual evidence” of collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia before launching an inquiry.

The FBI said it had addressed the issues highlighted in the report.

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

In the report, John Durham – who was appointed by then-Attorney General William Barr in 2019 – accused the FBI of acting on “raw, unanalysed and uncorroborated intelligence”.

Among the investigative mistakes the FBI made were repeated instances of “confirmation bias”, in which it ignored information that undercut the initial premise of the investigation.

The report noted significant differences in the way the FBI had handled the Trump investigation when compared with other potentially sensitive inquiries, such as those involving his 2016 electoral rival Hillary Clinton.

John Durham noted that Hillary Clinton and others had received “defensive briefings” from the FBI aimed at “those who may be the targets of nefarious activities by foreign powers”. Donald Trump had not.

“The Department [of Justice] and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law,” the report concluded.

In a statement, the FBI said it had “already implemented dozens of corrective actions”.

“Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,” the statement added.

The FBI investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, which was carried out by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, led to dozens of criminal charges against Trump campaign staff and associates for crimes including computer hacking and financial crimes.

It did not, however, find that the Trump campaign and Russia had conspired together to influence the election.

Writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, Donald Trump said the Durham report showed that the “American public was scammed”. He cited the report’s conclusion that there had not been enough evidence to warrant a full investigation by the FBI. Donald Trump has long claimed that members of the “Deep State” are targeting him unfairly.

In 2022, Donald Trump said he believed the Durham report would provide evidence of “really bad, evil, unlawful and unconstitutional” activities and “reveal corruption at a level never before seen in our country”.

The Durham report falls short of the blockbuster revelations and prosecutions that some Trump allies hoped for from the inquiry.

The four-year investigation has resulted in three prosecutions. They include an FBI attorney who pleaded guilty to altering evidence while applying for permission to eavesdrop on a former Trump campaign official.

Two other people were acquitted on charges of lying to the FBI.

Donald Trump cited some court filings by the Durham team as part of a lawsuit he filed against Hillary Clinton and several other Democrats and government officials, alleging that they had plotted to undermine his 2016 presidential bid by spreading rumours about his campaign’s ties to Russia.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous in January and ordered the former president to pay nearly a million dollars in penalties.

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.

Image source: Getty Images

The Trump campaign’s attempt to block President-elect Joe Biden from being declared winner in Pennsylvania has been rejected by a federal appeals court.

The panel of three judges deemed the case was without merit, saying the Trump campaign had not made specific allegations or provided proof.

The ruling is another major setback for Donald Trump in his attempts to overturn the November 3 election.

On November 26, President Trump said he would give way if Joe Biden was declared the winner.

However, on the next day he again made unfounded allegations of “massive voter fraud”, tweeting: “Biden can only enter the White House as President if he can prove that his ridiculous ‘80,000,000 votes’ were not fraudulently or illegally obtained.”

Trump Administration Allows Biden Transition to Begin

Joe Biden Wins Georgia Recount by 12,000 Votes

Donald Trump Continues to Deny Election Defeat

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals had been asked to consider a lower court’s decision to dismiss the Trump campaign’s attempts to invalidate millions of mail-in votes in Pennsylvania.

The lower court ruling had paved the way for the battleground state to certify Joe Biden’s win, giving him 20 vital Electoral College votes and effectively the presidency.

In giving the appeal court’s opinion, Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote: “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so.”

“Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” wrote Judge Bibas, who was nominated by President Trump.

Following the ruling, Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis wrote: “On to SCOTUS!”

The Trump campaign has filed a slew of lawsuits alleging voter fraud in several states, but with little success.

Joe Biden is projected to defeat President Trump 306 to 232 in the US electoral college, which determines who becomes president – far above the 270 he needs to win.

Time is running out as states have until December 8 to resolve election disputes before the Electoral College meets on December 14 to formally declare the victor.

Donald Trump’s refusal to concede has upended the process that normally follows a US election.

However, it is not a requirement for Donald Trump to concede in order for Joe Biden to be sworn in as the 46th US president.

President Donald Trump has decided to postpone his first post-coronavirus lockdown election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so it does not fall on Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of US slavery.

He tweeted that the June 19 rally would be held a day later out of respect for Juneteenth.

The choice of date had drawn criticism amid nationwide anti-racism protests.

The location was also controversial, as Tulsa saw one of the worst massacres of black people in US history in 1921.

Up to 300 people died when a white mob attacked the prosperous black neighborhood of Greenwood, known as the “Black Wall Street”, with guns and explosives. About 1,000 businesses and homes were also destroyed.

Juneteenth is not a federal holiday, but is widely celebrated by African Americans.

It celebrates the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to enslaved African Americans in Texas.

Texas was the last state of the Confederacy – the slaveholding southern states that seceded, triggering the Civil War – to receive the proclamation, on June 19, 1865, months after the end of the war.

President Trump initially defended the timing of his rally, telling Fox News: “Think about it as a celebration. My rally is a celebration. In the history of politics, I think I can say there’s never been any group or any person that’s had rallies like I do.”

However, critics accused the president of disrespecting the date and the significance of Tulsa to US history.

Explaining the decision to move his rally, President Trump tweeted: “Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents. I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests…”

The “Make America Great Again” rally in Tulsa will be Donald Trump’s first campaign event since March 2, when the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to mass gatherings.

President Trump is seeking re-election in November 2020, but polls show him lagging behind his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.

George Floyd Funeral: Family and Friends Pay Their Last Respects

Columbus and Confederate Statues Toppled by Protesters

Texas University Removes Confederate Statues Overnight

Donald Trump Denounces Removal of Confederate Statues

Campaign rallies are seen as a key method of energizing his base, and Oklahoma is traditionally a Republican-voting state.

The event will proceed against a backdrop of ongoing protests against racial inequality and police brutality, triggered by the death of African American man George Floyd on May 25. George Floyd, who was unarmed, died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a policeman knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

The rally is being held in a 19,000-seat indoor arena, and concerns have been raised about the potential risks.

Oklahoma has one of the US lowest infection rates, and businesses are reopening – but the state’s Governor Kevin Stitt has urged residents to keep social distancing and to “minimize time spent in crowded environments”.

People buying tickets for the Tulsa rally online have to click on a waiver confirming that they “voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19” and will not hold the president’s campaign responsible for “any illness or injury”.

President Trump has announced he plans to hold further events in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Arizona.

0

President Donald Trump says he has spoken to Attorney General William Barr about tracing the origins of the inquiry that cleared him of colluding with Russia.

The Republican president described the investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller as “an attempted coup”.

William Barr meanwhile said he believes US authorities did spy on the Trump campaign.

US intelligence officials have previously said they were spying on the Russians, not the Trump campaign.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on April 10, President Trump railed against the Department of Justice inquiry into whether the Trump campaign had conspired with the Kremlin to sway the 2016 election.

The investigation cleared him and his aides of collusion, making no determination on whether they had tried to obstruct justice.

Robert Mueller Report: “Trump Campaign Did Not Conspire with Russia”

President Donald Trump Denies He Is Planning to Fire Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller Accused of Unlawfully Obtaining Emails

President Trump said: “This was an attempted coup. This was an attempted take-down of a president. And we beat them. We beat them.

“So the Mueller report, when they talk about obstruction we fight back. And do you know why we fight back?

“Because I knew how illegal this whole thing was. It was a scam.

“What I’m most interested in is getting started, hopefully the attorney general, he mentioned it yesterday.

“He’s doing a great job, getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started.

“Because this was an illegal witch hunt, and everybody knew it. And they knew it too. And they got caught. And what they did was treason.”

While President Trump was flying off to Texas, William Barr was appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The attorney general was asked whether spying occurred on the Trump campaign during the 2016 White House race.

“I think spying did occur,” he said.

“The question is whether it was adequately predicated.

“I’m not suggesting it was not adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.”

William Barr said he did not understand why intelligence officials chose not to warn the Trump campaign that it could be vulnerable to infiltration.

He praised the “outstanding” FBI as a whole, but told the panel: “I think there was probably a failure among the group of leaders.”

He added: “I feel I have an obligation to make sure government power is not abused.”

President Trump and his conservative allies have repeatedly suggested the Obama administration planted a mole in his presidential campaign to undercut his candidacy.

The former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was asked on ABC in May 2018 if the FBI had indeed snooped on the Trump team.

James Clapper replied: “No, they were not. They were spying on – a term I don’t particularly like – but on what the Russians were doing.

“Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating, trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage and influence which is what they do.”

The same day in an interview with CNN, James Clapper said: “The objective here was actually to protect the campaign by determining whether the Russians were infiltrating it and attempting to exert influence.”

According to the New York Times last year, the FBI sent an informant, an unnamed US academic who teaches in the UK, to speak to two low-level Trump aides, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, after the agency became suspicious of the pair’s Russian contacts.

0

Michael Cohen has given substantial help on how Russian nationals tried to affect the 2016 election, a legal memo has revealed.

His help is detailed in the memo from Robert Mueller, who is heading the investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump team.

Image source Wikimedia

 

President Trump Reimbursed Michael Cohen for Stormy Daniels Hush Money, Says Rudy Giuliani

Michael Cohen’s Documents to Be Reviewed by Special Master Barbara Jones

Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty to Lying to Congress

Robert Mueller’s memo is mainly to guide sentencing for crimes President Trump’s ex-lawyer has admitted.

A second memo sets out the case against Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort for breaching a plea bargain deal.

Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort are among a number of President Trump aides being investigated in Special Counsel RobertMueller’s investigation.

Both have been co-operating with his team but Robert Mueller now accuses Paul Manafort of lying.

In a separate court filing onDecember 7, prosecutors in New York made their case for the length of Michael Cohen’s sentence when it is delivered on December 5.

They say Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer should serve a “substantial” jail term after admitting violating campaign finance laws, committing tax evasion and lying to Congress.

President Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion with Russian officials, calling the investigation a “witch hunt”.

The White House said the memos offered nothing new or damaging about the president.

President Trump tweeted: “Totally clears the President. Thank you!”

Michael Cohen had admitted making false statements about a Trump property deal, out of loyalty to the president.

The memo says that although this crime was serious, any sentencing should be served concurrently with the NewYork prosecutors’ recommendations on other crimes.

The memo says Michael Cohen has taken “significant steps to mitigate his criminal conduct”.

The memo’s key elements are about the Russian links.

0

According to recent reports, President Donald Trump has appointed lawyer Marc Kasowitz to represent him in an inquiry into Russia’s alleged meddling in the presidential election and any links to the Trump campaign.

President Trump has used services of the New York lawyer – known as a tenacious litigator – for more than a decade.

Last week, former FBI boss Robert Mueller was named special counsel for the Department of Justice inquiry.

Donald Trump denies any collusion between his campaign and Russia.

Image source kasowitz.com

However, US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to tip the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump.

Marc Kasowitz and the White House have so far made no public comments on the reported appointment.

He is well known to Donald Trump, and it was he who – during the presidential campaign – threatened to sue the New York Times if it didn’t retract a story about Donald Trump touching women inappropriately.

The New York Times stood by its story and a retraction was never published.

Calls for a special investigation had mounted since President Trump fired the most recent FBI director, James Comey, earlier this month.

The FBI and Congress are also looking into potential links between Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russia.