Trump News Today: New audio undermines McCarthy’s denial that he would suggest resignation to ex-president

As Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene prepares to testify under oath in a trial that could bar her from holding public office, Donald Trump has released a statement defending her extreme supporter – and blaming the action against her on those responsible. Georgians who refused to endorse his claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

Here is the text of his statement:

As fallout from Kevin McCarthy’s leaked recording continues to spread, Liz Cheney’s office has released a statement on where the audio came from – and the congresswoman, who was part of the House Republican leadership at the time of the taped conversation, basically washed his hands of it.

having supported Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance in the all-important Ohio Senate primary, Donald Trump and his son Donald Jr are turning fire on one of the leading Republican candidates: Josh Mandel, who is running an extremely aggressive right-wing campaign as he pursues the appointment.

In particular, the younger Trump is blasting Mr Mandel for his previous ties to the Republican establishment, sharing a video of him dating Mitt Romney and John McCain – both sworn enemies of the Trump clan.

As the New York TimesMaggie Haberman says things are approaching the point where the former president’s son could take the unusual step of formally opposing Mr Mandel, who so far has been a much stronger contender for the nomination than Mr. .Vance.

Two men have pleaded guilty in a long-running wire fraud case linked to We Build The Wall, a fundraising group co-founded by Trump adviser and far-right instigator Steve Bannon.

Mr Bannon was pardoned by the former president for his part in the crowdfunding effort, whose donations were diverted for personal use by staff. However, Mr. Trump could only pardon him for the federal charges he faced; he is still under investigation for state-level infractions.

Sravasti Dasgupta to the story.

Almost no one doubts that Donald Trump is seriously considering running for president in 2024, and the series of rallies he has held in recent months almost give the impression that the campaign is already underway. There are even reports that he had to be dissuaded from announcing a second race as early as last year for fear he would confuse Republican messaging in the midterm elections.

However, despite his considerable advantage in the polls among the Republican base and his enormous fundraising ability, Mr. Trump does not have a completely clear path to the nomination or the presidency, in particular due to multiple legal problems that always threaten to get worse.

Graeme Massie selects the challenges the former president might face.

Before the audio of his post-insurgency call with Liz Cheney was released, Kevin McCarthy issued a strident written denial that the reported version was accurate. And even after the recording aired on MSNBC, the statement is still live on his official Twitter feed:

Adam Kinzinger, who sits with Liz Cheney on the Jan. 6 select committee, lashed out at Kevin McCarthy over audio that shows him saying exactly what he denied saying just an hour before the release of the record.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow GOP lawmakers shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol uprising that he would urge then-President Donald Trump to step down, audio shows. published by The New York Times and aired on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show.

In the recording of a House Republican leadership call from January 10 released by The Times on Thursday evening, McCarthy is heard discussing the Democratic effort to remove Trump from office and saying that he would say to Trump: “ I think that will pass and that would be my recommendation he should resign.

Reacting to Kevin McCarthy’s latest published audio, conservative pundit AB Stoddard said it was a “stunning failure” by the Republican politician.

“It’s an incredible and mind-boggling failure on the part of Kevin McCarthy, just because he’s been trying to get to the presidency for so long,” Ms Stoddard said on MSNBC.

She called it “an epic embarrassment for Republicans.”

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow said she expects GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to resign after posting explosive audio recording confirming a New York Times report.

“I don’t want to be pollyanna about this at all, or naive,” Ms Maddow said. “But it seems to me that I expect some kind of level – from politicians, in particular – to say one thing in public and say it another way in private. Definitely speak harder, less diplomatically in private.

Still, she said she doesn’t expect officials and politicians to “outright lie” when this is taped.

“I think it creates a real problem for Mr McCarthy, I think he needs to at least apologise, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were calls for him to resign, to lie and deny that ‘he did it when in fact he did it,’ she said.