Mentions of Donald Trump have been rare at the first few trials for people charged with storming the US Capitol, but that has changed: the latest Capitol riot defendant to go on trial is blaming his actions on the former president and his false claims about a stolen election.

Dustin Byron Thompson, an Ohio man charged with stealing a coat rack from the Capitol, doesnt deny that he joined the mob on 6 January 2021. But his lawyer vowed Tuesday to show that Trump abused his power to authorize the attack.

Describing Trump as a man without scruples or integrity, defense attorney Samuel Shamansky said the former president engaged in a sinister plot to encourage Thompson and other supporters to do his dirty work.

Its Donald Trump himself spewing the lies and using his position to authorize this assault, Shamansky told jurors Tuesday during the trials opening statements.Justice department prosecutor Jennifer Rozzoni said Thompson knew he was breaking the law that day.

He chose to be a part of the mayhem and chaos, she said.

Thompsons lawyer sought subpoenas to call Trump and Rudolph Giuliani as witnesses at his trial this week. A judge rejected that request but ruled that jurors can hear recordings of speeches that Trump and Giuliani delivered at a rally before the riot.

Thompsons jury trial is the third among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. The first two ended with jurors convicting both defendants on all counts with which they were charged.

In a February court filing, Shamansky said he wanted to argue at trial that Thompson was acting at the direction of Trump and his various conspirators. The lawyer asked to subpoena others from Trumps inner circle, including former White House strategist Steve Bannon, former White House senior adviser Stephen Miller and former Trump lawyers John Eastman and Sidney Powell.

Prosecutors said Thompson cant show that Trump or Giuliani had the authority to empower him to break the law. They also noted that video of the rally speeches perfectly captures the tone, delivery and context of the statements to the extent they are marginally relevant to proof of Thompsons intent on 6 January.

Thompsons lawyer argued that Trump would testify that he and others orchestrated a carefully crafted plot to call into question the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. Shamansky claimed that Giuliani incited rioters by encouraging them to engage in trial by combat and that Trump provoked the mob by saying that if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore.

Shamansky said Thompson, who lost his job during the pandemic, became an avid consumer of the conspiracy theories and lies about a stolen election.This is the garbage that Dustin Thompson is listening to day after day after day, Shamansky said. He goes down this rabbit hole. He listens to this echo chamber. And he acts accordingly.

US district Judge Reggie Walton ruled in March that any in-person testimony by Trump or Giuliani could confuse and mislead jurors.

More than 770 people have been charged with federal crimes arising from 6 January. Over 250 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. Thompson is the fifth person to be tried on riot-related charges.

Thompson has a co-defendant, Robert Lyon, who pleaded guilty to riot-related charges in March.

Thompson, then 36, and Lyon, then 27, drove from Columbus, Ohio, to Silver Spring, Maryland, stayed overnight at a hotel and then took an Uber ride into Washington DC on the morning of 6 January. After Donald Trumps speech, Thompson and Lyon headed over to the Capitol.

Thompson was wearing a Trump 2020 winter hat and a bulletproof vest when he entered the Capitol and went to the Senate parliamentarians office, where he stole two bottles of liquor and a coat rack worth up to $500, according to prosecutors.

Thompson is charged with six counts: obstructing Congress joint session to certify the electoral college vote, theft of government property, entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Lyon pleaded guilty to theft of government property and disorderly conduct. Both counts are misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of one year imprisonment. Walton is scheduled to sentence Lyon on 3 June.

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Capitol riot defendant blames actions on Trump and false election claims - The Guardian

I expected to discuss all sorts of things with political scientists in Chicago last week, but Ill be honest: When it came to current politics, people were mostly talking about the 2024 presidential nominations especially the Republican one. And folks I spoke with were split right down the middle: About half thought that former President Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee, and half threw up their hands and said they had no idea what would happen.

Im in that second group.

The argument that Trump has the nominationlocked up is pretty straightforward. No, we dont know for sure that hell be running in 2024, but he certainly is running for 2024 right now. That is, hes doing all the things that candidates for president do holding rallies, campaigning,raising moneyand, in his own fashion, putting together a policy platform. Sure, the platform begins and ends with complaining that people are unfair to Donald Trump, but thats pretty much all he did as presidentanyway.

Trump, the case continues, has strong support from primary votersand is liked by almost all of them. Thats usually a winning combination. Yes, a significant group of party actors, including many elected officials, appear to oppose him at least in theory. But only a very small subset of those who tell reporters off the record that Trump is a disaster for the party are willing to say sopublicly. Theres no reason to think that theyllbe any better at coordinating against him than they were in 2016, or that theyll be any better at convincing Republican voters to follow their lead.

Thats not all. In 2016, Trumps big vulnerability was that he had no apparent commitment to the normal Republican policy agenda. That shouldnt be a problem for him after four years in the White House. The first time around, Christian conservatives were skeptical; now, theyre among his strongest supporters. The most notable difference he had with Republican orthodoxy while in the White House was on foreign policy, and in 2024 a lot more party actors are on his side and few voters care about itanyway.

So why wouldnt he win?

I cant speak for everyonewho took thisposition. But for me, its less one big thing than many, many small ones. To begin with: I was wrong about 2016, and while I thinkI understand what happened, Id hesitatebefore making confident predictions aboutRepublican nomination politics again.

Beyond that? Ill note that while Republican voters by all accounts like Trump, thats not actually saying that much; most voters like politicians from their own party once they get to know them. Theres just no way to know how strong their attachment is to Trump how strong any voters attachment is to any politician until its put to the test. Well learn a little more about this when primaries resume in coming weeks. Should the candidates Trump endorsed do badly, its possible that the fear of opposing him will dissipate.

Then theres Trump himself. Yes, he certainly seems to want to be president again. But the idea that hes invincible among Republicans is far from proven. His 2016 nomination was a narrow one, aided by all sorts of odd events includinga fair amount of luck. He also has an electoral record now, and its not exactly an impressive one; after all, he lost re-election, and Republicans lost the House (in 2018) and the Senate (in 2020) while he was in office. His tantrum over losing the presidency and his false claims about fraud have widely been credited for the loss of two Senate seats in Georgia. Republicans may trust Trump more on policy than they once did, but they should have even less confidence that hell be a team player now. That could mean more opposition from party actors than last time.

That leaves the question of whether voters would listen if party actors tried to oppose Trump. They certainly didnt in 2016. Would it be different this time? It might depend on which party actors; if Fox News hosts and talk radio turned against Trump (or, perhaps, just strongly supported some other candidate) I could imagine it mattering.

And thats without getting into the possibility that Trumps various legal entanglements catch up to him. Or that hes less interested in being president again than he is in extracting money from Republican donors, a process that might be disrupted if he formally declared a run for office. Right now the nomination looks extremely valuable, given President Joe Bidens low approval ratings. Butthat could change, and if so Trump might shy away from the risk of a worse loss than he had in 2020.

Besides, were still almost two years from the first caucus or primary. At this point in the 1992 election cycle, incumbent president George H.W. Bush was so overwhelmingly popular that most high-profile Democrats passed on the race; by the time of the New Hampshire primary, Bush was so unpopular that a fringe candidate took 37% of the vote against him.

None of this is to say that Trump wont be the nominee. Its just a case for uncertainty. Perhaps Trumps triumph against all odds (and most expert opinion) in 2016 really does mean that the party is his as long as he wants it to be. Or perhaps it means that the party,the process or both are just a lot less predictable than I and others once believed. Which is true? Sorry. I have no idea.

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Is Donald Trump a Lock for the 2024 Nomination? - Bloomberg

Former US president Donald Trump celebrated his 75th birthday on Monday and the event was a low-key affair. Trump marked his 75th birthday with a dinner at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Donald Trump Jr, the son of former US president, took to his Instagram account to share some photos of the birthday party. The guests included Donald Jr.s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, former NFL star Herschel Walker, Indiana congressman Jim Banks and Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert.

The most notable absentee was Donald Trump's wife and former First Lady, Melania Trump.

Ex-wife Ivana Trump once said in an interview that "Donald hates his birthdays", and a source also told People magazine that Melania "keeps her own schedule and leads her own life" away from her husband.

The absence of Melania has once again sparked the divorce rumors between the couple but writer Kristyn Burtt said that it is wrong to say that Melania has decided to part ways with Donald Trump.

She said: "She did that at the start of his administration when she and son Barron remained in New York City so he could finish out the school year before they moved to Washington, D.C. The couple has very different hobbies and seems to prefer their independent activities, but no one should read too much into her absence. This shouldnt be seen as a sign that there is trouble in their marriage."

Notably, the only family members who were present during Donald Trump's 75th birthday celebration were Donald Jr. and his girlfriend. Daughter Ivanka Trump was also not present at the event.

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Melania Trump to divorce former US president Donald Trump ...

Donald Trump has suggested that he is perhaps the most honest human being ever created.

The former POTUS naturally didnt hold back when speaking of his character, prompting laughter from his followers.

At a rally in Selma, NC on Saturday the former president defended himself from the multiple investigations probing his tax affairs and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

You know, youve been investigated years and years, millions and millions of pages of documents, they found nothing,' Mr. Trump said, supposedly quoting private remarks from a friend. You are the cleanest on Earth when you think about it.'

He continued: I think Im the most honest human being, perhaps, that God ever created. As laughter broke out from his supporters, Mr. Trump added: Perhaps.

His comments come hot on the heels of prosecutors in New York asking a court to hold Mr. Trump in contempt, claiming he is refusing to comply with an order to turn over documentsin her probe ofhis companys business dealings.

New York Attorney General Letitia James also requested that Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron fine the former president $10,000 for each day he allegedly fails to respect the ruling.

Trump was ordered by a judge in February to comply with subpoenas for documents, but James office says that rather than meet the March 31 deadline, he instead raised new objections.

The ship has long since sailed on Mr. Trumps ability to raise any such objections, AG lawyers said in papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday.

Mr. Trumps purported response violates the courts order; it is not full compliance or any degree of compliance, but simply more delay and obfuscation, the filing alleges. Mr. Trump should now be held in civil contempt and fined in an amount sufficient to coerce his compliance with the courts order and compensate [The Office of the Attorney General] for its fees and costs associated with this motion.

In a statement, James said the judges order for Trump to comply with her offices subpoena and hand over relevant documents had been crystal clear.

Instead of obeying a court order, Mr. Trump is trying to evade it, she said. We are seeking the courts immediate intervention because no one is above the law.

Trumps lawyer Alina Habba said, We are prepared to adamantly oppose the frivolous and baseless motion filed by the Attorney Generals office today.

Our client has consistently complied with the many discovery requests served by the Attorney Generals office over the years.

The former president also issued a lengthy statement, blasting James probe as a witch hunt and accusing her of serving as an operative for the Democrat Party in a political prosecution.

This Democrat prosecutorial misconduct began the second I came down the escalator in Trump Tower, and has continued in an attempt to silence a President who is leading in every single poll, Donald Trump said. Never before has this happened to another President, and it is an absolute violation of my civil rights.

Originally posted here:

Donald Trump says he is 'perhaps the most honest human' ever

Members of the Houses Jan. 6 committee are apparently split over whether to refer Donald Trump to the Justice Department, even though many if not all of the committee members appear to have concluded that the former president engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

Its absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing what a number of people around him were doing that they knew it was unlawful, Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said last weekend. They did it anyway. (Trump of course denies he has done anything wrong.)

There doesnt seem to be much doubt among the committee members about whether Trump committed federal crimes.

Indeed, the committee made that case in federal court recently, when it argued in a filing that it has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The evidence was enough to convince U.S. District Judge David Carter, who wrote that the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.

Referring to Trumps legal henchman John Eastman as part of a civil lawsuit seeking to block the House committee from obtaining big lie-related emails sent from and to Eastman, Carter wrote: Dr. Eastman and President Trump launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history.

Their campaign was not confined to the ivory tower it was a coup in search of a legal theory, the judge continued. The plan spurred violent attacks on the seat of our nations government, led to the deaths of several law enforcement officers, and deepened public distrust in our political process.

Despite all of this, members of the select committee probing the Capitol insurrection are reportedly worried that actually making a criminal referral might not be prudent. According to The New York Times, some members worry that even a largely symbolic referral would backfire by politically tainting the Justice Departments expanding investigation into the Jan. 6 assault and what led up to it.

You may have seen this movie before. Again and again during Trumps campaign, his presidency and now his post-presidency weve seen responsible figures determine that something must be done about Trumps behavior. And then, inevitably, they decide to let someone else do it.

Theyve rationalized their timidity as political prudence, but the result has been a pandemic of buck-passing.

In the 2016 campaign, Trumps Republican rivals mostly refused to take him on until it was too late, all the while hoping that someone else would do the hard work for them. After his election, congressional Republicans fell into line. They rationalized that appeasement as a matter of tactical savvy. I told myself I gotta have a relationship with this guy to help him get his mind right, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told political reporter Tim Alberta.

And we saw the same pattern with Roberts Mueller probe, which documented Trumps obstruction of justice at great length but declined to recommend either impeachment or criminal indictment.

To the end, though, Mueller hoped that someone else would take action. During congressional hearings, he was asked point-blank by lawmakers, "Could you charge the president with a crime after he left office?"

And Mueller responded with an unequivocal "yes." He also specifically affirmed that the president could be charged with obstruction of justice after leaving office.

But that never happened.

Like other establishment figures who were rolled over by Trump, Mueller was held hostage by his excessive faith in guardrails.

In the end, as Andrew Weissmann, a member of Muellers team, wrote in his inside account, Where Law Ends, Mueller was so worried about overstepping his role that he opted instead to issue a mealy-mouthed report that documented all the ways Trump had obstructed justice but refused to do much of anything about it.

Like other establishment figures who were rolled over by Trump, Mueller was held hostage by his excessive faith in guardrails, institutional integrity and the virtues of staying in ones lane.

They brought cucumber sandwiches to a gunfight, and the outcome was never in doubt.

Even after Jan. 6, members of Trumps own party continued to engage in wish-casting. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declared: "There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.

"A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name," he said. "These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags and screaming their loyalty to him."

But McConnell voted against a Senate impeachment conviction, because, he argued, Congress had no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen.

Once again, he held out hope somebody else might hold Trump accountable. President Trump, insisted McConnell, is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations is run, still liable for everything he did while in office, didn't get away with anything yet yet. But that was more than a year ago, and no one else has taken action.

So now it is up the select committee and the Justice Department, which both seem to be caught in a cycle of hand-wringing. They worry about the taint of a referral and agonize over fears that Trump and the GOP will discredit any investigation as a partisan witch hunt.

But heres a reality check: No matter what they do, no matter how cautiously they act, Trump will react with bad faith and demagoguery.

The Justice Department could hire an avatar of respectability and integrity to handle the prosecution (see: Robert Mueller) and it wouldnt matter. Whatever it does, Trump will let loose the dogs of disinformation, deceit and obstruction.

Knowing it cant control the reaction, maybe the select committee should just do the right thing and finally, finally end the cycle of timidity, self-deterrence and buck-passing.

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Trump should be charged for Jan 6. Don't let the House pass the buck. - MSNBC

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, is facing more political pressure to move faster and expand the US Department of Justices investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack and charge Donald Trump and some of his former top aides.

With mounting evidence from the January 6 House panel, court rulings and news reports that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy in his aggressive drive to thwart Joe Bidens election win in 2020, Garland and his staff face an almost unique decision: whether to charge a former US president.

Ex-justice officials caution, however, that while theres growing evidence of criminal conduct by Trump to obstruct Congress from certifying Bidens win on January 6 and defraud the government, building a strong case to prove Trumps corrupt intent a necessary element to convict him probably requires more evidence and time.

In an important speech in January this year, Garland said he would hold all January 6 perpetrators, at any level accountable, if they were present at the Capitol that day or not, who were responsible for this assault on our democracy, which suggested to some ex-prosecutors that Trump and some allies were in his sights.

But rising pressures on Garland to move faster with a clearer focus on Trump and his top allies have come from Democrats on the House panel investigating the Capitol attack.

Those concerns were underscored this past week when the House sent a criminal referral to the justice department charging contempt of Congress by two Trump aides, trade adviser Peter Navarro and communications chief Dan Scavino, who refused to cooperate after being subpoenaed.

We are upholding our responsibility, the Department of Justice must do the same, panel member Adam Schiff said. Likewise, Congresswoman Elaine Luria urged Garland to do your job so we can do ours.

About four months ago, the House sent a criminal contempt of Congress referral to the justice department for the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, but so far he has not been indicted.

Some former top DoJ officials and prosecutors, however, say Garland is moving correctly and expeditiously in pursuing all criminal conduct to overturn Bidens election in its sprawling January 6 inquiry.

When people (including many lawyers) criticize the DoJ for not more clearly centering the January 6 investigation on Trump, they are expressing impatience rather than a clear understanding of the trajectory of the investigation, the former justice inspector general Michael Bromwich told the Guardian.

DoJ is methodically building the case from the bottom up. It is almost surely the most complex criminal investigation in the nations history, involving the most prosecutors, the most investigators, the most digital evidence and the most defendants, he added.

Bromwich added that people view the scores of ongoing criminal prosecutions of participants in the January 6 insurrection as somehow separate from the investigation of Trump. They are not. He is the subject of the investigation at the top of the pyramid. People need to carefully watch what is happening, not react based on their impatience.

The departments investigation is the biggest one ever. More than 750 people have been charged so far with federal crimes, and about 250 have pleaded guilty.

Still, concerns about the pace of the investigation and why charges have not been filed against Trump have been spurred in part by a few revelations over the last couple of months.

Last month, for instance, federal judge David Carter in a crucial court ruling involving a central Trump legal adviser, John Eastman, stated that Trump more likely than not broke the law in his weeks-long drive to stop Biden from taking office.

Dr Eastman and President Trump launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history, Carter wrote in a civil case which resulted in an order for Eastman to release more than 100 emails he had withheld from the House panel.

Similarly, the January 6 select committee made a 61-page court filing on 2 March that implicated Trump in a criminal conspiracy to block Congress from certifying Bidens win.

On another legal front that could implicate Trump and some top allies, the deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco, revealed in January that the DoJ was starting a criminal investigation into a sprawling scheme reportedly spearheaded by Trumps ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Trump campaign aides to replace legitimate electors for Biden with false ones pledged to Trump in seven states that Biden won.

Further, the Washington Post reported late last month that the DoJ had begun looking into the funding and organizing of the January 6 Save America rally in Washington involving some Trump allies. Trump repeated his false claims at the rally that the election was stolen.

We won this election, and we won it by a landslide, Trump falsely told the cheering crowd. You dont concede, when theres theft involved, he said, urging the large crowd to fight like hell, shortly before the Capitol attack by hundreds of his supporters that led to 140 injured police and several deaths.

A Trump spokesperson, Taylor Budowich, has called the House January 6 inquiry a circus of partisanship. And Budowich attacked Judge Carters ruling as absurd and baseless, noting that Carter was a Clinton-appointed judge in California.

Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, told the Guardian that recent actions by the House January 6 panel and by the DoJ, along with court opinions, have notably increased legal threats to Trump. Anyone would need ice in their veins not to feel the heat when all three branches of the federal government are breathing down your neck, he said.

On the issue of whether Trump may be indicted, Donald Ayer, who served as deputy attorney general in the George HW Bush administration, said the critical question should be whether there is adequate proof of wrongful intent. Citing Carters ruling that Trump more likely than not broke the law, Ayer said that the evidence of such intent has recently become a lot stronger.

Nonetheless, Ayer and Aftergut stress Garland has to juggle competing priorities lest he politicize his department, while being extra careful to ensure any charges he may bring against Trump will stand up in court.

Garlands between the rock of defending one justice department ideal and the hard place of protecting another. On one hand, no person is above the law. On the other hand, the department needs to avoid, as much as possible consistent with the first ideal, appearing political, Aftergut said.

Theres nothing easy about the position Garlands in, Aftergut added. The safest course, before considering a prosecution of a former president, would be to demand considerably more evidence of guilt than youd require in any other case.

Ayer added: Garland is right not to be discussing the specifics of whether and how Trump may be indicted, a stance Garland has adopted to protect the DoJs credibility as not political. At the same time, Ayer suggested that Garland should spend more time talking to the country about impartial justice and the idea that no person is above the law.

There are clear risks in moving too fast to appease critics.

Garland must make his decisions based on the law in relation to the facts, the former federal prosecutor Michael Zeldin said. The more politicians endeavor to pressure Garland to act, it runs the risk that any decision Garland makes will be seen as politically motivated rather than based on purely legal considerations.

That seems to fit with Garlands approach. In his 5 January speech this year, Garland emphasized, we follow the physical evidence. We follow the digital evidence. We follow the money. But most important, we follow the facts not an agenda or an assumption. The facts tell us where to go next.

And, if there is enough evidence, following the rules could end up with Trump getting charged.

DoJ will never announce that it is investigating Trump and his inner circle. Such an announcement would violate DoJ policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, said Barbara McQuade, a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School and a former attorney for the eastern district in Michigan.

Garland, McQuade added, is avoiding the mistake FBI director Jim Comey made in investigating Hillary Clinton, for which Comey was properly criticized, referring to two status reports about the investigation made in the months before the 2016 election.

Ultimately, McQuade said that Garlands biggest challenge will be proving that Trump had corrupt intent or intent to defraud, both of which would require proving that he knew his fraud claims were false. It can be very difficult to prove what was in someones mind, but it is not impossible.

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Is Trump in his sights? Garland under pressure to charge ex-president - The Guardian

Donald Trump Jr. has suggested that New York subway cameras were intentionally disabled for political reasons to prevent a mass shooting from being recorded.

The eldest son of former President Donald Trump made the remarks on Twitter Wednesday, referring to New York Mayor Eric Adams' admission that cameras were not working when a shooter opened fire on commuters on Tuesday. Trump Jr.'s comments are the latest in a string of tweets accusing law enforcement of bending to politics as they responded to the shooting.

Following the shooting, reports emerged that security cameras at Sunset Park's 36th Street station, the scene of the attack, were not working and did not capture the incident. Adams confirmed to WCBS that there was "some form of malfunction with the camera system," which he said was under review.

The shooting presented a significant challenge for Adams, a Democrat, who has prioritized public safety in the nation's largest city, particularly on its public transit system.

"Why do the security cameras never seem to work when the reality of the crime isn't good for the leftist narrative???" Trump Jr. said on Twitter.

Police on Wednesday arrested suspected shooter Frank James, who faces terrorism charges for the incident that left 10 people wounded.

Leading up to the shooting, James had posted videos to YouTube predicting a "civil war" between races. He also said that white people viewed Black people as being rightfully slaves. James in a video also criticized Adams, saying the mayor had contributed to his mental health problems and he had emerged from a facility with "more issues."

Trump Jr. on Wednesday retweeted a tweet from a writer for conservative blog RedState referencing James' videos saying "the media won't care a bit that he was motivated by left-wing talking points."

In another tweet, Trump Jr. suggested the attack wasn't described as "terror" because "the description wasn't good for the narrative."

He also took aim at the FBI, which was criticized by the former president and his allies for its investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia.

"Great work NYPD," wrote Trump Jr. "Despite the constant attacks from the leftist leaders of New York you guys still get it done... unlike the FBI leadership who seem far more interested in creating crimes and letting the actual bad guys go."

Twitter users responded to Trump Jr.'s tweet suggesting politics were behind the malfunctioning subway cameras by pointing to recently revealed text messages showing he sought to block certification of the 2020 election. Another Twitter user posted video of speeches given by Trump Jr. and his father before a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2020.

Another Twitter user pointed to Donald Trump's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein was famously found dead in his New York jail cell and his death has been labeled a suicide.

However, conspiracy theories have continued to circulate that he was murdered by a powerful figure worried about potentially compromising information held by Epstein, who faced charges for running a sex trafficking operation.

A big driver behind the conspiracy theories was the two malfunctioning cameras outside his cell.

Newsweek has reached out to Adams' office for comment.

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Donald Trump Jr. Blames Failed Security Cameras on 'Leftist Narrative' - Newsweek

Donald Trumps upcoming Texas two-step will give him the chance to tout his Lone Star endorsements for the May 24 GOP state primary runoffs.

Trumps visit, however, is more personal.

Still the most influential voice in the Republican Party, the former president has an eye toward 2024, when he could make another run for the White House. And like his previous presidential runs, Texas would play a critical role.

This is perceived as a very strong base for him and he needs to keep the wires alive to tap into that Texas energy for him, said Bill Miller, an Austin-based Republican consultant and lobbyist. If the hard core here in some way should say, Yeah, I really like him, but ..., thats not what he wants. Hes got to keep that but right out of the conversation.

On May 9, Trump is scheduled to headline a Dallas dinner to raise money for Republican congressional candidates. The National Republican Congressional Committee began rounding up donors for that about a month ago.

Trump also has announced an all-day rally in Austin for May 14. Its part of his American Freedom Tour, a series of campaign-style events that seem designed to keep his profile high and to generate income.

Tickets to the Dallas dinner are treated as campaign contributions, but tickets for the American Freedom Tour event are not campaign donations, which suggests that proceeds go to the organizers and speakers.

Trump will likely use both events to tout his Texas endorsements. Trump-backed candidates are part of five GOP runoffs, most notably Attorney General Ken Paxton, whos running for a third term against Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

Despite the stakes, Trump has more than Texas runoffs on his mind.

He says he loves Texas. The Lone Star State has helped propel his political career. For his presidential bids, Trump had the help of prolific fundraisers like Dallas businessman Roy Bailey, who served as co-chairman of Trumps national finance committee. Dallas businessman Tommy Hicks Jr., an early Trump supporter, is now co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bailey said more money came out of Texas for Trump than any other state.

In 2020, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was Trumps Texas campaign chairman. And Paxton filed the ill-fated and critics say ill-advised lawsuit to overturn election results in key battleground states.

Most of Trumps Texas rallies have been well-attended spectacles and a celebration of his movement. Where else will you find a woman draped in a dress decorated with photos of Trump?

If he runs for president in 2024, Trump needs Texas Republicans to maintain their energetic support for him, as well as the continued doling of campaign cash.

Thats why the May visit wont be his last trip to Texas, particularly if he plans to stay on the national political scene.

Meanwhile, other Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will continue to position themselves as potential 2024 presidential hopefuls.

Then theres Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who this year wants to beat Democratic challenger Beto ORourke by 10 or more percentage points to help propel him as a possible 2024 candidate for president or vice president.

DeSantis and Abbott have been dueling each other on the most provocative new law or public policy. The Florida governor recently signed the Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. The law, which critics have dubbed dont say gay legislation, would possibly restrict such instruction for older kids, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Last week Abbott made a bold move of his own. He announced that Texas officials would begin busing migrants to the steps of the U.S. Capitol and inspecting vehicles driven in from Mexico. He called the move an unprecedented response to illegal immigration.

Abbotts latest move escalates his clash with President Joe Biden over how to handle illegal immigration. The governor has sent thousands of state police and Texas National Guard soldiers to the border to arrest migrants on trespassing charges. In a nod to Trump, Abbott also has committed $1 billion to erecting a barrier along the states border with Mexico. That came after Biden issued an order to discontinue wall construction begun by Trump.

Critics, including ORourke, have called Abbotts latest border tactic a political stunt.

The maneuvers by potential 2024 candidates wont matter, however, if Trump is a candidate in 2024. The way he keeps beating a path to Texas, it appears another Trump presidential bid is on the horizon. And entering 2022 Trumps various campaign accounts had totaled $122 million. While that money technically cant be rolled over into a 2024 presidential campaign, he can spend it now.

Until and unless he says hes not running, Trump is the Republican front-runner for 2024.

Republicans want to win, Miller said. Theyre going to take a long hard look at Trump. It wont be automatic. Hell have to work for it, but hes the front-runner for the nomination.

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Trump visits Texas ahead of primary runoff election - The Dallas Morning News

A series of 13 studies with over 10,000 participants tested the change in Americans prejudice following the presidency of Donald Trump. The researchers found that explicit racial and religious prejudice increased amongst Trumps supporters, while prejudice decreased among those who opposed him. This research was published in Nature Human Behavior.

In recent decades, there has been a downward trend in prejudice toward racial and religious minorities. However, some studies suggest that racial and religious prejudice had a critical role in Trumps presidential victory. While some commentators have suggested that numerous trends following the 2016 elections (e.g., increases in reports of hate crimes, minorities reporting more discrimination) point toward a rise in racial and religious prejudice in America, others have argued that these increases may be a consequence of increased national attention to issues of prejudice. Other commentators from both sides of the political spectrum have suggested that even if there has been a rise in discrimination, it only reflects extremist fringe groups, rather than the broader American population.

In this work, Benjamin C. Ruisch and Melissa J. Ferguson examine whether a single counter-normative public figure, and his widespread acceptance by a large portion of the American people, can lead to large-scale changes in social norms and societal prejudices.

The authors tested two key predictions. First, that racial and religious prejudice significantly increased among Trump supporters but not other Americans. Second, that increase in prejudice reflected the increased acceptability of expressing prejudice (i.e., changes in social norms).

Studies 1-9 were multi-year longitudinal studies involving over 1000 participants, examining the the breadth and depth of changes in prejudice across various target groups and measure types. At Time 1, they included at least one measure of prejudice and various questions assessing views on social and political issues. Time 2 measures were nearly identical, and also included a question regarding support for Donald Trump.

The researchers included a wide range of measures on political ideology, political party identification, perceptions of the US economy, perceived threat and political knowledge/sophistication, as well as demographic characteristics such as age, gender, race, education and income. As well, they looked at environmental factors, including income inequality, racial diversity and voter turnout in participants home counties by extracting this information based on participants geographic location.

Study 9 included data from the VOTER survey conducted by the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group and YouGov. Responses on voting history, political attitudes, daily lives, social group memberships, health history and demographics from over 7500 participants who completed this survey in both 2016 and 2019 were included. These studies did not allow for the isolation of Trump support as a causal factor of changes in prejudice. However, they did allow the researchers to track changes before and after his political ascension, while statistically adjusting for over 80 possible predictors.

Using both correlational and experimental methodologies, Studies 10-13 included 1402 participants and were conducted for the purpose of providing support for a causal explanation.

Across Studies 1-9, Ruisch and Ferguson found that support for Donald Trump predicted a significant increase in prejudice towards a range of social, racial and religious minoritized groups. Those who generally opposed Trump, including liberals and conservatives, showed decreases in prejudice in the same time period. Studies 10-13 provided indirect support for the mechanism behind the shift in social norms.

Trump supporters perceived that expressing prejudice had become more acceptable since his election, and this perception predicted greater personal prejudice among them. As well, experimentally leading participants to feel that Trump supporters approved of his controversial rhetoric significantly increased Trump supporters personal expressions of prejudice .

The authors concluded, Together, this research suggests that the presidency of Donald Trump may have substantially reshaped the topography of prejudice in the United States.

The research, Changes in Americans prejudices during the presidency of Donald Trump, was authored by Benjamin C. Ruisch and Melissa J. Ferguson.

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Donald Trump's presidency associated with significant changes in the topography of prejudice in the United States - PsyPost

The USFL will launch on Saturday, April 16 in yet another attempt to start a professional football league.

This is the second attempt at spring football for the USFL. The first league enjoyed short-lived success from 1983-86. The new USFL will bank on that nostalgia factor with the same franchises and team names from the 1980s. It's also not a direct challenger for the NFL.

Why did the original USFL catch on and eventually fail? That's a history lesson worth looking at.

New Orleans businessman David Dixon, who helped get the Saints to the NFL, had a vision for a spring and summer football league, and that groundwork was laid in 1980.

MORE USFL: Top players from original league | Ranking uniforms | Rule changes | Schedule

The timing helped. The NFL had a strike-shortened season in 1982, and the USFL's first season was the following spring in 1983. The league had 12 teams, and several of those teams played in NFL stadiums.

The league also secured solid television deals. The 1983 USFL championship game between the Michigan Panthers and Philadelphia Stars was televised on ABC and Keith Jackson and Lynn Swann called the game.

The league lasted three seasons from 1983-85.

The USFL originally planned to bar underclassmen, but that changed when they allowed Georgia star Herschel Walker, arguably the greatest college football player of all time, to sign with the New Jersey Generals after his junior season. Heisman Trophy winners Mike Rozier and Doug Flutie followed Walker to the USFL over the NFL.

The talent level in the USFL was legitimate. Future Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Reggie White and Gary Zimmerman also played in the league. Kelly and Young played in a legendary 34-33 shootout between the Houston Gamblers and Los Angeles Express in 1985; a game in which Kelly passed for 574 yards and five TDs.

On the field, the USFL allowed for two-point conversions, a rule the NFL would not adopt until 1994. That was one of the quirks of a league that enjoyed modest success in its first season.

The USFL didn't have a salary cap, and that made for financial trouble for some franchises. The stability of those franchises from year to year was tough.

The league tried to expand from 12 to 18 teams for its second season, and by the third season it trimmed back down to 14 teams. Only six of those USFL franchises lasted all three seasons.

The new version of the USFL will start with eight teams in 2022.

Donald Trump also was involved in the USFL. He became the owner of the New Jersey Generals in 1984, and he led the push for the league to move to a fall schedule and directly compete with the NFL. The USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit with the NFL and won the case for $1, but the three-year court battle added to the league's financial woes.

The USFL would ultimately fold in 1986.

The original USFL had success and was seen as a fun alternative for the NFL and offered a blueprint for success in some cases.

The nostalgia factor will be high, too. The new USFL kept the teams names and it paid homage to the original league. The glamour franchise (New Jersey Generals), their biggest rival (Tampa Bay Bandits) and the most-successful franchise (Philadelphia Stars) are back.

Marv Levy and Bill Polian took the lessons learned from the Chicago Blitz and built a four-time AFC champion with the Buffalo Bills around Kelly at quarterback.

Ultimately, the financial instability and directly challenging the NFL led to the league's demise. That's a lesson the XFL would learn later, and the new USFL would be better served as a developmental league that experiments with new innovations the NFL can use later.

The USFL is in the right window on the sports calendar, and this time it coincides with the MLB coming off a lockout. Don't be surprised if there is modest success at the start, but can it maintain that viewership?

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What happened to the original USFL? Herschel Walker, Donald Trump and an ill-fated NFL lawsuit - Sporting News

Every time a president moves into the White House, the new occupant tweaks the place to their own personal style and preferences. Gerald Ford brought in striped couches. George W. Bush had the walls of the Oval Office painted ecru. Barack Obama replaced much of the 19th-century still lifes, pastorals and portraits that dominate[d] thepublic rooms with bold, abstract art works. The latest transition, however, apparently required more extensive modifications than simply swapping some color schemes here and art choices there. Thats because, according to Joe Bidens sister, they basically needed to rid the place of Donald Trumps demon spirit.

In a new memoir published Tuesday, Valerie Biden Owens, the sister and closest confidante of the 46th president, wrote that as part of the team decorating the Oval Office, she wanted everything Trump had touched out of there. That meant getting rid of the former guys chosen portrait of 19th-century populist president and ethnic cleanser Andrew Jackson and replacing it with one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as adding busts of MLK, Cesar Chavez, RFK, Rosa Parksall of which reflected Joes understanding and reverence for the soul of this nation. Biden Owens said that she wanted to ditch the Resolute desk Trump used and bring in FDRs in its place, but was unable to do so as the latter resides at FDRs family home in Hyde Park. Thus, the desk Trump had sat behind remained. Still, the fact that the desk was used by both JFK and Obama made her feel better about her brother having to sign documents behind a piece of furniture where the worst president in history also conducted business. So that was certainly good enough, and went a long way toward exorcising from my mind the repugnant image of its previous occupant, she wrote.

Speaking of exorcisms and Biden Owenss thoughts on Trump, the presidents sister, like many Americans, appears to view the last inhabitant of the Oval Office as being on par with the devil, a characterization some people might say is unfair to Satan. In her book, Biden Owens said, If ever there was a force of anti-empathy in the world, it is Donald Trump. He is a bully, pure and simplea narcissistic, incompetent, and incomplete man. He is the embodiment of resentment. His power comes from tapping into our baser instincts. She observed that Trump, appealed to our lowest common denominator and didn't just represent policy failure or erratic personal behaviors; he represented something darker, more primal, more insinuating, striking deeper into the heart of what made us who we are. Biden Owens was initially hesitant about her brother running, she said, because she could see the campaign Trump would run. It was as vivid as a movie. Brutal. Crass. Classless. And every time I saw that movie, I would feel sick. (Incidentally, she wasnt wrong. Among other things, Trump suggested his 2020 opponent was taking performance-enhancing drugs, and during the first presidential debatethe one where we later found out Trump showed up after secretly testing positive for COVID-19the then president interrupted Biden talking about his deceased son to call the one whos still alive a deadbeat.) He had the mind not of a President, but of a vengeful dictator, and running against him felt almost degrading, Biden Owens wrote.

Elsewhere, Biden Owens said she wasnt surprised in the slightest that Trump chose not to attend her brothers inauguration because, essentially, hes a little bitch. A small man does not rise to the occasion, she wrote.

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Joe Bidens Sister Had to Exorcise the White House of Trumps Demon Spirit - Vanity Fair

Ask people what they remember most about the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and many responses would likely show that people continue to be astonished that such a terrible thing could have happened in our nation.

But one person remains fixated on something else: the size of the crowd that gathered at the Ellipse, the park between the White House and the National Mall. It was the site of a rally by those who believed, despite exactly no evidence supporting such claims, that Democrat Joe Biden had stolen the November 2020 election from then-President Donald J. Trump.

Here was Trump, in a recent interview with The Washington Post: The crowd was far bigger than I even thought. I believe it was the largest crowd Ive ever spoken to. I dont know what that means, but you see very few pictures. They dont want to show pictures, the fake news doesnt want to show pictures. But this was a tremendous crowd.

There he goes again, focusing on something that might boost his always-delicate ego, but completely missing the point.

In that same interview, the former president strongly hinted that hed be likely to run again in 2024, with one important caveat: his health. You always have to talk about health. You look like youre in good health, but tomorrow, you get a letter from a doctor saying, Come see me again. Thats not good when they use the word again, he said.

One could read that statement as a forecast of Trumps anticipated way out. Trump repeatedly talks of running, hints of running, raises money for another campaign, but then, at the very last minute, uses his health as a reason to bail.

The last thing Trump would want is to be seen as a two-time loser. But not only that, its entirely possible that when he launched his bid for the presidency with his famed ride down an escalator at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, he did so with no thought of actually winning, but instead with an eye on boosting his brand. He went on to win not only the Republican Partys presidential nomination, but ultimately the presidency.

Its easy to imagine that what Trump most wants going forward is what would be best for the bottom line of the Trump organization and his various business ventures.

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For Donald Trump, its all about his businesses success (Editorial) - MassLive.com

In April 2022, an image supposedly showing Don Jr. and Eric Trump grinning unusually large, Joker-esque smiles was posted to social media:

This is not a genuine photograph of two of former U.S. President Donald Trumps sons. The image was digitally manipulated.

Using a reverse image search, we found that the above-displayed, doctored photo was created from a photograph of Don Jr. and Eric at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester, New York, on Sept. 15. The photograph was taken by Grant Lamos IV and is available via Getty Images with the caption:

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY SEPTEMBER 21: (L-R) Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump attend the 9th Annual Eric Trump Foundation Golf Invitational Auction & Dinner at Trump National Golf Club Westchester on September 21, 2015 in Briarcliff Manor, New York. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images)

Heres a look at the doctored image (left) and the genuine photograph (right):

Trumps eldest sons have been the subject of a number of photographic rumors over the years. There was the rumor that supposedly showed how Eric didnt know the front end of the shovel, the photo that appeared to give a particularly grotesque look at Trumps two sons, and the photo that seemingly showed Don Jr. and Eric during a big game hunting trip. One of those three rumors is true, while the other two are false.

Sources:

Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump Attend the 9th Annual Getty Images, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/donald-trump-jr-eric-trump-and-ivanka-trump-attend-the-9th-news-photo/489506564. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.

Ivana Trump: Ex-Husband Donald Can Win Election. The Mercury News, 23 Sept. 2015, https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/09/23/ivana-trump-ex-husband-donald-can-win-election/.

Boucher, Ashley. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. Test Negative for Coronavirus 1 Day After Donald Trump and Melania Test Positive. PEOPLE.Com, https://people.com/politics/eric-and-donald-trump-jr-test-negative-for-coronavirus/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.

Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches. Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.

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Is This Photo of Don Jr. and Eric Trump Smiling Real? - Snopes.com