List of All Articles with Tag 'elections'

The Georgia prosecutor investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state is reportedly weighing a racketeering indictment against the former president and others. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could rely on evidence tied to Mr Trump’s infamous call to the state’s top elections official to “find” votes for him, as well as the breach of voting machines by a group of Trump-connected operatives, according to The Guardian, citing two people briefed on the matter. Prosecutors are reportedly reviewing a racketeering indictment including statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass. An indictment is expected within the first two weeks of August. The office has been investigating efforts to overturn election results in the state and the baseless allegations of widespread election fraud that fuelled them, adding to a long list of investigations and other legal consequences facing the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president and his allies who rejected 2020 results. Ms Willis’s investigation is separate from the federal probe under US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating a broader effort from Mr Trump and his allies to reverse election results in states Mr Trump lost to Joe Biden, culminating in a pressure campaign around Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify electoral college results during a joint session of Congress on 6 January, 2021. A grand jury in the Fulton County case was seated on 11 July. Ms Willis has made a career out of high-profile cases involving charges of racketeering– typically used to break up organised crime – including indictments against more than two dozen people connected to a sprawling Atlanta hip-hop empire, 38 alleged gang members, and 25 educators accused of cheating Atlanta’s public school system. Georgia’s racketeering statute requires prosecutors to show the existence of an “enterprise” with a pattern predicated on at least two other “qualifying” crimes. Evidence in the case is unlikely to be revealed until an indictment is unsealed, but a charge involving influences witnesses could look to Mr Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Mr Trump suggested that he “find” him 11,780 votes – enough to swing the election in the state. For the computer trespass charge, in which prosecutors would need to show that defendants used a computer or network without permission to interfere with a program or data, prosecutors could turn to the breach of voting machines in Coffee County. That breach involved a group of people working under former Trump-connected attorney Sidney Powell to copy voting machine data at the county’s election office. That data from Dominion Voting Systems machines was uploaded to a password-protected website in a spurious, failed effort to prove that the 2020 election was rigged against Mr Trump. The Independent has requested comment from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office. Roughly one year into her investigation, Ms Willis took the unusual step of asking for a special grand jury to rely on its subpoena power to compel testimony from witnesses who otherwise would not be willing to talk with prosecutors. That special grand jury was seated in May 2022 and concluded its work in January 2022 after hearing from roughly 75 witnesses before dissolving in January. A partially released report from the special grand jury shows that jurors unanimously agreed that “no widespread fraud took place” in Georgia’s election following interviews with election officials, analysis and poll workers. Mr Trump also faces criminal charges in Manhattan stemming from hush money payments allegedly made to silence stories about his alleged affairs in the lead up to the 2016 election. Mr Trump and his adult children also face a likely trial from a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by the New York Attorney General’s office alleging a years-long fraud operation. A federal judge in Florida has also set a trial date of 20 May, 2024 on charges surrounding the alleged mishandling and illegal retention of dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property. Read More Trump classified documents trial will be six months before 2024 election as Jan 6 cases close in - latest Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump Georgia grand jury sworn in to consider Trump charges over attempts to upend 2020 election Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained

A judge rejects Mr Trump's bid to have the case delayed until after next year's White House election.

A US judge on Friday ordered Donald Trump's trial for mishandling top secret documents to begin in May of next year, at the height of what is expected to be a...

Former president Donald Trump bashed his main rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination late Thursday evening. The former president posted on his Truth Social platform that businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is now beating Florida Gov Ron DeSantis in some polling. He also poked fun at former Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchinson and attacked former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie over his weight. “Vivek Ramaswamy is now beating DeSanctimonious,” he said. “Christie dead as his stomach band. ‘Aida’ Hutchinson a solid minus 1%. I’m up 44 points!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” In 2013, Mr Christie underwent bariatric surgery to help with his weight. Mr Trump in the past seemed to mock the former governor when he said he would no longer eat Oreo cookies. Mr Christie and Mr Trump have had a long and sordid relationship. In 2016, Mr Christie was one of a cadre of Republican presidential candidates running against Mr Trump for the Republican nomination for president. But shortly after the New Hampshire presidential primary, Mr Christie dropped out of the race and became of the first major elected officials to back Mr Trump. Since then, Mr Christie has mostly turned against Mr Trump and has largely staged his longshot presidential candidacy in an effort to neutralise the former president. Mr Trump also continued to use his preferred nickname for Mr DeSantis, calling him “DeSanctimonious.” But a new poll from Kaplan Strategies showed Mr Ramaswamy was tied, not beating, Mr DeSantis. Since announcing his candidacy in May, Mr DeSantis has failed to catch fire and his polling numbers have either stayed stagnant or even declined. Mr Hutchinson, for his part, has also largely run in opposition of Mr Trump and has failed to rise in the polls in a crowded field that also includes Sen Tim Scott (R-SC), former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and former vice president Mike Pence. Read More Truth Social’s merger partner reaches $18m settlement with SEC Trump taunts DeSantis and Christie as deadline to appear before Jan 6 grand jury passes – latest Trump shares sinister new video issuing apocalyptic threat to anyone who ‘f***s around with us’

WASHINGTON The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s trial on his mishandling of classified documents case has

A federal judge in Florida has set a trial date for next May for former President Donald Trump in a case charging him with illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents

A federal judge ordered Friday that the trial in the classified documents case that special counsel Jack Smith brought against former President Donald Trump begin in mid-May 2024.

Contentious plans by London's mayor to extend a scheme taxing the use of the most polluting vehicles were being blamed Friday for costing his opposition Labour...

Donald Trump has been busy bullying his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, including Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, on Truth Social as he braces for an imminent grand jury indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in inciting the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. Mr Trump announced on Tuesday that he had been sent a letter by special prosecutor Jack Smith informing him that he is the “target” of the investigation, citing three statutes under which he could be charged, including conspiracy to commit offence or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. That indictment, Mr Trump’s third in four months, could be handed down as soon as this week, The Independent has learned. William Russell, a former White House aide who now works for the Trump presidential campaign and spent much of 6 January with the then-president, is believed to have testified before the grand jury on Thursday. The former president was given until midnight on Thursday to report to the Washington, DC, federal courthouse but did not appear. Read More Trump shares sinister new video issuing apocalyptic threat to anyone who ‘f***s around with us’ Deadline for Trump to give evidence in Jan 6 probe passes as third indictment looms Trump bid to toss E Jean Carroll ruling backfires as judge says ex-president did ‘rape’ columnist DeSantis says he’d accept Trump being prosecuted for a ‘traditional crime’ like ‘robbing a bank’

Britain’s governing Conservative Party has suffered two thumping defeats in a trio of special elections but avoided a drubbing after holding onto former premier Boris Johnson’s seat in suburban London

Experts say plans for a second congressional district in Alabama that gives a voice to Black voters are unlikely to win court approval

Thailand’s Move Forward Party, which won the most parliamentary seats in the May general election, will step aside