Jared Kushner denies speculation he was Mar-a-Lago “mole”
The affidavit produced to justify the 8 August search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property is to be released by noon eastern time today with proposed redactions from the Department of Justice.
Florida Judge Bruce Reinhart, who cleared the search warrant for the raid, says the department met its burden of showing a compelling reason to keep parts sealed. It had raised concerns that releasing the affidavit in full – an unsual step in itself – would put witnesses in danger of intimidation and make it harder to secure the co-operation of others.
Before the decision came down, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to proclaim himself “innocent as a person can be”. His lawyers have taken no action to get the affidavit made public.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden gave a barnstorming rally speech in Maryland to rev up Democratic voters in advance of the midterms. At a Democratic fundraiser earlier in the day, he described the ideology of “MAGA Republicans” as “semi-fascist”, later telling the rally crowd that the former president’s hardcore followers are committed to “destroying America”.
Biden: MAGA Republicans are ‘semi-fascist’
Joe Biden’s return to the campaign trail last night saw him give one of the firiest speeches of his presidency to date, warning that “extreme Republicans” are committed to “destroying the United States” – but it was at a closed-door fundraiser earlier in the day that he delivered his most attention-grabbing line.
“It’s not just Trump,” he reportedly told an assembled group of Democratic donors. “It’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something: It’s like semi-fascism.”
After a range of outlets reported his remarks, a GOP spokesperson issued a livid statement calling them “despicable”.
Andrew Naughtie26 August 2022 11:29
Marjorie Taylor Greene bizarrely claims ‘masks cause lung cancer, brain damage and Covid’
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those celebrating the return of dangerous political nonsense to YouTube this week.
The far-right Georgia Republican retweeted YouTuber Tim Pool, who in his own tweet remarked favourably on the platform’s loosening of restrictions on sharing known falsehoods that have had dangerous public effects, such as lies about Covid-19.
Marjorie Taylor Greene endorses claim that masks cause lung cancer and brain damage
Georgia congresswoman retweets YouTuber celebrating return of conspiracies to platform
Andrew Naughtie26 August 2022 10:45
Mark Zuckerberg takes a swipe at Twitter over handling of Hunter Biden laptop story
During his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg criticised how Twitter handled The New York Post’s story about Joe Biden’s son Hunter and his alleged laptop, published ahead of the 2020 presidential election. president’s son’s laptop.
“We took a different path than Twitter,” Mr Zuckerberg said. “What Twitter did is they said ‘you can’t share this at all.’ We didn’t do that.”
Zuckerberg takes a swipe at Twitter over handling of Hunter Biden laptop story
‘What Twitter did is they said ‘you can’t share this at all.’ We didn’t do that,’ the Facebook founder tells Joe Rogan
Alex Woodward26 August 2022 10:00
Florida Democratic candidate for governor raises $1m after primary
Charlie Crist will face Florida Republican Ron DeSantis in the governor’s race this fall.
Mr Crist’s campaign announced on Thursday that he raised more than $1m within a day after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday night.
“There have been a lot of questions on whether Democrats can compete with Ron DeSantis – today makes it clear we can,” his campaign manager said in a statement. “Florida will be a marquee battleground state this November. Charlie Crist can and will stop Ron DeSantis right here, right now.”
Governor…