Trump news today: Donald announces Texas rally as Katko becomes third
Fox News host says Trump must ‘learn to lose’
Former President Donald Trump has announced a second rally this month, with meetings planned on Saturday in Arizona and on 29 January in Texas.
Mr Trump released a statement earlier celebrating that Rep John Katko of New York has become the third Republican lawmaker that voted for his impeachment who has announced that he will not run again.
Meanwhile, the sprawling effort to bring the 6 January rioters to justice has crossed a new rubicon with prosecutors bringing charges of “seditious conspiracy” against the leader of the Oath Keepers, a self-styled militia who joined the insurrection. Elmer Stewart Rhodes has been arrested and charged along with 10 other members of the group, who stand accused of plotting to “oppose the lawful transfer of power by force”.
As for the investigation on Capitol Hill, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has refused to provide the 6 January committee with information about his conversations with Mr Trump during the attack last year, calling the panel “illegitimate”. Liz Cheney, one of the committee’s only two Republicans, said Mr McCarthy is attempting to “cover-up” what happened, and that the committee would evaluate other options for obtaining his testimony. “I wish that he were a brave and honorable man,” she told CNN.
Joe Biden, meanwhile, has faced an abject week in Congress – and it seems his popularity is suffering badly. According to FiveThirtyEight, in the annals of the modern presidency, only Donald Trump had a lower approval rating at this point in his term.
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What is seditious conspiracy?
The US Justice Department’s efforts to hold those responsible for the 6 January insurrection shifted into a higher gear this week with the unsealing of a 48-page indictment against Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes and 10 other members of his right-wing militia group.
All but Mr Rhodes and another defendant – Edward Vallejo of Phoenix – had previously been charged with crimes for their roles in the worst attack on the Capitol since British troops commanded by Major General Robert Ross set it ablaze in 1814.
Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against more than 730 people over the year that has passed since the attack, but the indictment of Mr Rhodes and his alleged co-conspirators stands out because it charges them under a rarely used provision of law that can be found in the chapter of the US criminal code titled “Treason, Sedition, and Subversive Activities”.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 08:30
ICYMI: Oath Keepers leader charged for role in Jan 6 riot
Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the right-wing militia group known as the Oath Keepers, has been arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 06:30
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