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Trump doubles down after DC hearing: ‘Most people agree that we’re entitled to immunity’ – as it happened [1]
['Chris Stein', 'Richard Luscombe']
Date: 2024-01-09
From 1d ago 11.55 EST Trump: 'Most people agree that we're entitled ... to immunity' In remarks to reporters in Washington DC after appeals court judges expressed skepticism at his claims of immunity , Donald Trump doubled down on his argument he should not face charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election. “What a sad situation it is. I want to thank you, everybody, for the fairness. We’ve been covered very fairly. Most people agree that we’re entitled, as a president, to immunity,” Trump said.
Updated at 12.07 EST
20h ago 15.53 EST White House says Biden found out about Austin prostate cancer 'this morning', ordered review of procedures for cabinet secretary absences Joe Biden learned “this morning” that defense secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized with complications stemming from treatment for prostate cancer, national security council spokesman John Kirby said at today’s White House press briefing. The Pentagon announced the diagnosis publicly in a statement this afternoon. Austin has been criticized for waiting days to inform Biden he had been hospitalized, and some congressional Republicans have called for his resignation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration has asked all its cabinet-level agencies to review their procedures for handling instances where secretaries have to temporarily hand authority to their deputies. She also reiterated that Biden had no plans to replace Austin. “The president has complete confidence in the secretary,” Jean-Pierre said.
21h ago 15.28 EST 'We could have done a better job' – Pentagon spokesman Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder sounded contrite at today’s press briefing, when pressed on the news that defense secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized for complications related to prostate cancer treatment. Here’s what he had to say: Q: "It seems, frankly, like you were deceived by telling everyone that it was an elective medical procedure...It doesn't elective if he had prostate cancer and this was treating it."@PentagonPresSec: "We could have done a better job last week." pic.twitter.com/sEk9wnZrYZ — CSPAN (@cspan) January 9, 2024
Updated at 15.28 EST
21h ago 15.09 EST A group of four Republican former military pilots who are currently serving in the House have called on Lloyd Austin to resign or be fired for not promptly notifying Joe Biden of his hospitalization. “This failure to notify the proper officials is an extraordinary breach of protocol, and at most, dereliction of duty,” August Pfluger, Jake Ellzey, Mike Garcia and Scott Franklin wrote in a letter to the president. “It is unacceptable and unconscionable that the principal cabinet member responsible for U.S. national security would be absent without notice of leave, designating an alternative chain of command, or making relevant Members of Congress and the Executive Branch aware of such an absence.” They continued: Secretary Austin’s duties require his availability at a moment’s notice to respond to potential national security crises. We believe Secretary Austin’s blatant violation of the Pentagon’s Principles of Information and serious lapse in judgment warrants his immediate resignation, as well as the resignation of any staff involved in covering up his hospitalization. If he does not resign, he should be immediately dismissed. The White House has said Biden does not plan to ask Lloyd for his resignation.
22h ago 14.47 EST Pentagon says defense secretary Austin was hospitalized after complications from prostate surgery treatment – report Defense secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized last week after complications stemming from a procedure to treat recently detected prostate cancer, CBS News reports, citing a Pentagon press release: The Pentagon releases a detailed statement about Secretary Austin’s health. He was admitted to the ICU with complications from a treatment for prostate cancer: pic.twitter.com/z7eJuz5KCe — Weijia Jiang (@weijia) January 9, 2024 Austin was criticized for waiting days before informing the White House that he had been hospitalized. The defense secretary is supposed to be constantly available to respond to threats. Despite the criticism, Joe Biden’s spokeswoman yesterday said the president continues to have confidence in Austin: White House says Lloyd Austin will stay in job despite ‘lack of transparency’ Read more
Updated at 14.53 EST
22h ago 14.22 EST Greg Pence, a Republican congressman for Indiana and former vice-president Mike Pence’s brother, will not run for re-election, he said on Tuesday. He is the 16th House Republican to announce their departure during or at the end of their current term. He did not give a reason for standing down. pic.twitter.com/55wv9Fe7lY — Rep. Greg Pence (@RepGregPence) January 9, 2024 “In 2017, I ran for Congress because I was Ready to Serve Again. As a former Marine Officer, I approached the job with purpose,” he said in a statement posted to X. “After three terms, I’ve made the decision to not file for reelection. To the voters in Indiana’s 6th district – it is a privilege and honor to represent you”.
Updated at 14.29 EST
22h ago 14.05 EST The reviews are in on Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s state of the state speech this morning, and the widely held view among critics is that it was aimed more at voters in Iowa. The Republican presidential hopeful, who needs a decent showing in next week’s Iowa caucuses to retain any hope of catching the runaway leader Donald Trump in the primary race, began with attacks on Joe Biden and his favorite hobby horse topics, the economy, immigration and crime. He spoke of the southern border, Washington DC, San Francisco, Illinois, Chicago and California before his first mention of Florida, a boast of how many manufacturing jobs he claimed to have generated in his home state. Some issues in Florida important to voters, including the soaring cost of home insurance, were relegated to towards the end of his speech, as was the taking of credit for the legislature’s removal of sales tax on many baby items, a Democrat-led initiative. Lauren Book, leader of Florida’s Senate Democrats, was unequivocal in her assessment of DeSantis’s address, saying it “fails to grasp the reality Floridians are living with – and struggling with – on a daily basis”. DeSantis just delivered a State of the State speech that fails to grasp the reality Floridians are living with — and struggling with — on a daily basis. Floridians deserve the Governor’s full attention. Not the voters of Iowa. pic.twitter.com/5q4ZsrJ1j6 — Lauren Book (@LeaderBookFL) January 9, 2024
23h ago 13.43 EST The Guardian’s Oliver Milman has news of developments in Georgia, where Donald Trump is facing felony charges for election interference: One of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in his Georgia election interference case has alleged that Fani Willis – the district attorney leading the proceeding – has been “engaged in a personal, romantic relationship” with one of the top prosecutors she brought in for the case. In a court filing seeking to have charges against him dismissed, an attorney for Michael Roman – an ex-staffer of the former president – has accused Willis of intentionally failing to disclose a relationship with the prosecutor, Nathan Wade, and personally benefiting from his appointment to the case. The filing offers no evidence of the relationship, instead stating “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship”. It alleges that the supposed couple have used legal fees from the case to fund trips to Florida, Napa Valley and a cruise to the Caribbean. Read the full story: Trump co-defendant claims Georgia DA ‘in romantic relationship’ with prosecutor Read more
23h ago 13.27 EST Democrats in Maine have voted down a Republican effort to impeach Shenna Bellows, the top election official who removed Donald Trump from the state’s presidential ballot. A House vote along party lines defeated the move 80-60, the Associated Press reports. Bellows called the impeachment measure “political theater” and has promised to abide by any legal ruling on her decision to keep Trump off Maine’s 5 March primary ballot. Maine’s supreme court is set to hear an appeal. Republicans say her decision disenfranchised more than 300,000 voters in Maine who chose Trump in the last election. “She is not a judge. She is not a jury. And I believe that the people feel absolutely disenfranchised,” state House representative Katrina Smith said.
Updated at 13.29 EST
23h ago 12.56 EST Indicted senator Menendez says he 'received nothing' from Qatar after new charges Speaking of politicians facing legal trouble, New Jersey’s Democratic senator Robert Menendez went to the chamber’s floor today to proclaim his innocence of recently filed charges alleging he worked for Qatari interests: “I have received nothing, absolutely nothing, from the government of Qatar ... The government's principal allegation of what I supposedly did for Qatar was to support a Senate resolution.”
— Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) slams the second superseding indictment against him pic.twitter.com/msbIum7EjF — The Recount (@therecount) January 9, 2024 Federal prosecutors indicted Menendez last year for allegedly accepting cash, gold bars and other gifts in exchange for using his position to assist the Egyptian government. Here’s more on the latest charges: Bob Menendez faces fresh corruption allegations involving Qatar Read more
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[1] Url:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/jan/09/trump-immunity-hearing-jan-6-case-dc-politics-latest-updates
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