Donald Trump wrote ‘to-do lists’ on classified documents – latest

Joe Biden knocked Donald Trump for his job record while in the White House, noting that only two presidents have left the executive mansion with the US job market in a lower position than when they started their presidency. .

At a community college in Maryland on Thursday, the president spoke about his economic agenda, dubbed Bidenomics, when he took a dig at his predecessor.

“There are only two presidents in American history who had less work to do the day they left office than when they started. One was President Hoover. The other was Donald Hoover Trump,” Mr Biden said to laughter. room. “My predecessor promised to be the greatest working president in history. Well, it never turned out that way. He lost 2 million jobs over the course of his presidency.

In a widely criticized interview with Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, Mr Trump said Putin’s comments proved “what I said was right” about resolving the 18-month war.

The former president has repeatedly claimed without giving any details that he could end the war within days if he succeeds in retaking the White House.

“If I tell you exactly, I’ve lost all my bargaining chips,” Mr Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Republicans who control the North Carolina legislature with a veto-proof majority are close to wresting control of elections from the governor and the governor’s party — almost always the Democrats have been for more than a century.

A bill that will reach the desk of Gov. Roy Cooper this week, among other changes, will take away from him and future governors the power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections. It will instead give that authority to legislative leaders.

The legislation could also lead to the ouster of the top election administrator before the next presidential election in a state where former President Donald Trump held on to a narrow victory over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. .North Carolina was Trump’s narrowest victory that year, raising Democrats’ hopes that Biden could win there in 2024.

GOP attempts since 2016 to eliminate Cooper’s election board powers have been struck down in the courts or defeated by voters in a statewide referendum.

Cooper plans to veto the bill. But Republican majorities were large enough to override his veto, and Republican justices now hold a majority on the state Supreme Court.

Last year, armed far-right activists in tactical gear were accused of intimidating voters at ballot drop boxes in Arizona, an incident that heightened the threats faced by voters and election workers after the 2020 election.

Law enforcement officials and civil rights groups are sounding the alarm about growing threats and potential for political violence, following a surge in pro-gun policies and a landmark Court case US Supreme Court limits the scope of legal protections to prevent the proliferation of firearms throughout the country. country.

There are now “huge gaps” in protections for voters and election workers ahead of the crucial 2024 election, and “with so many guns and so much political polarization and violence, states need strong laws to limit the risk,” according to a report from the gun violence prevention group. Giffords Law Center and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.

The 2022 decision of the Supreme Court on New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc v Bruen recognized that banning firearms in “sensitive areas” such as “polling places” is “presumptively lawful” – but only 12 states and Washington DC expressly prohibit open and concealed carry weapons at polling stations, the report found.

The interview – which before the broadcast received a lot of criticism for giving the former president a platform where he could repeat known lies – was pre-recorded on Thursday and aired on Sunday morning in the first Welker’s performance as the new moderator.

The wide-ranging inquiry turned to Mr Trump’s actions on January 6, with Welker asking why he did not do more to stop the violence as his supporters battled police and stormed Congress.

“Tell me how you see all this happening. Are you in the dining room watching TV?” Welker asked, referring to accounts of the day from people in the White House.

“I’m not going to tell you,” Mr Trump replied. “I will tell the people later at the appropriate time.”

Molly Michael, a former aide to Mr Trump, said several times she was given to-do lists of documents that she later realized were marked as classified material, ABC reports, citing the unnamed sources familiar with his testimony to federal investigators.

A Trump spokesperson told the network that the claims were “illegal leaks” that lacked “proper context and relevant information.”

“President Trump has done nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted appropriately, according to the law,” the spokesperson said.

More details in our full story.

Donald Trump took credit on Truth Social on Monday for the acquittal of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment proceedings.

“Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from falling into the hands of Democrats and some Republicans, led by PAUL RINO (Ryan), Karl Rove, and others, almost all of them are back. to reason when faced with the facts. Ken was a great AG, and now he can get back to work for the beautiful people of Texas. It’s my honor to help right this injustice!” Mr Trump wrote.