Trump news today: DOJ prepares to hit Trump with new charges as Mike Roman cooperates in 2020 election probe

Donald Trump’s legal troubles appear to be heating up, with his former campaign official Mike Roman reportedly cooperating with investigators probing the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Two sources told CNN on Thursday that Mr Roman has taken a proffer agreement to cooperate with special counsel Jack Smith’s office in its investigation.

Mr Roman was involved in Mr Trump’s scheme to put forward fake electors to certify the election in his favour in states that President Joe Biden had won.

This revelation comes after it was reported that Rudy Guiliani had also taken such an agreement.

Under a proffer agreement, an individual shares information with investigators on the agreement that that information cannot be used against them in court.

House Republicans on Thursday requested voluntary testimony from nearly a dozen Justice Department officials involved in the investigation of President Joe Biden‘s son Hunter as GOP lawmakers widen their scrutiny into what they claim is improper interference by the agency.

Former vice president Mike Pence visited with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a sign of solidarity with Ukraine even as many Republicans sour on support for Ukraine, CNN reported.

Eric Garcia reports on the 2024 candidate’s visit.

Three investors in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that took Trump Media public have been indicted for insider trading concerning the deal, making $22m in alleged lillegal trades.

All three were charged with trading in securities of Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC) based on non-public information about the company’s planned business combination with Trump Media & Technology Group — founded by former President Donald Trump — the parent company of social media platform Truth Social.

They were arrested on Thursday morning in Florida.

Former New Jersey governor and presidential Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie told CNN that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was right in his initial assessment about whether former president Donald Trump was the strongest candidate to beat Joe Biden in a general election contest.

Earlier this week, Mr McCarthy said he was not sure that Mr Trump was the strongest candidate to beat Mr Biden.

Former President Donald Trump‘s criminal indictment on charges of mishandling government secrets appears to have dented his popularity among Republicans — but only slightly —- according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Sixty percent of Republicans now have a favorable view of Trump, down slightly from April, when 68% of Republicans said they had a favorable view of the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner. The poll found 38% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Trump, an uptick from 30% in April.

The Department of Justice is prepared to seek indictments against multiple figures in former president Donald Trump’s orbit and may yet bring additional charges against the ex-president in the coming weeks, The Independent has learned.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the department has made preparations to bring what is known as a “superseding indictment” — a second set of charges against an already-indicted defendant that could include more serious crimes — against the ex-president in the Southern District of Florida.

But prosecutors may also choose to bring additional charges against Mr Trump in a different venue, depending on how they feel the case they have brought against him in is proceeding.

Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent.

President Joe Biden has cozied up to high-dollar donors at posh Upper East Side penthouses and on West Coast decks gussied up with floral arrangements and flags in recent weeks. He has two more fundraisers in New York on Thursday that will close out an end-of-quarter campaign blitz his team believes will put him on strong financial footing for a contest they expect to set new spending records.

Friday’s events will be Biden’s 9th and 10th fundraising receptions of the past two weeks, numbers that have been matched by Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. The Biden campaign has been mum on how much he has raised at the often free-wheeling events, but it is broadcasting confidence in the size of the haul ahead of the July 15 reporting date.

Former President Donald Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to reject affirmative action programmes at US colleges and universities on Wednesday morning, calling it a “a great day for America.”