Trump news today: Trump wants classified documents trial delayed to after 2024 as Georgia grand jury meets

Judge Aileen Cannon has delayed Friday’s classified information procedures hearing in the Donald Trump criminal case until Tuesday, 18 July. It will take place in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta sought the delay due to his lateness in hiring local counsel. There was no objection from Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has picked a longtime aide to serve as the state’s second acting attorney general following Republican Ken Paxton’s historic impeachment on allegations of misconduct and crimes, the governor’s office announced Monday.

Angela Colmenero will step in as the state’s top lawyer on an interim basis starting Friday while Paxton awaits a trial in the state Senate that could result in his permanent removal, the office said. The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5.

A federal judge in Louisiana refused Monday to put a temporary hold on his own order limiting Biden administration officials contacts with social media companies.

Biden administration attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe to stay his own order, which was issued last Tuesday, while they pursue an appeal. That order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies.

Donald Trump lashed out at Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds in a Truth Social post on Tuesday as she has taken a neutral stance in the 2024 race.

“I love Iowa, protected & expanded Ethanol, got 28 Billion Dollars from China for our great Farmers, ended the Estate (Death!) Tax on farms, made the best TRADE deals in history (USMCA, China, & many more), introduced the World to our FARMERS, & kept Iowa’s “First in the Nation” status. I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain “NEUTRAL.” I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!” he fumed on Truth Social.

Gov Ron DeSantis just got some of his worst polling news yet.

A survey of likely Republican primary voters in the Sunshine State by Florida Atlantic University shows him firmly trailing former President Donald Trump, with the pair’s other rivals for the GOP nomination far out in the wilderness.

The poll affirmed two narratives involving the DeSantis campaign: The 2024 Republican primary, at present, is a two-candidate contest. And Mr DeSantis is losing.

A Georgia grand jury is slated to meet on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the efforts of the former president and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating Mr Trump after he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in early 2021 and urged him to “find 11,780 votes” to flip the state in his favour.

The investigation, which has gone on for more than two years, expanded to include an examination of a slate of Republican fake electors, phone calls by Mr Trump and others to Georgia officials in the weeks after the 2020 election and unfounded allegations of widespread election fraud made to state lawmakers.

On Tuesday, a grand jury is being seated Tuesday in Atlanta where the panel will likely consider whether criminal charges are appropriate for Mr Trump and his allies.

DA Willis has suggested that any indictments would likely come in August.

It didn’t take very long for conservatives to pounce on Meta’s new Twitter competitor and accuse it of censoring a prominent conservative, forcing the social media giant to back down.

This time, the controversy is over a warning that Meta apparently attached to Donald Trump Jr’s account, before later removing it and claiming the label to have been a “mistake”.

Donald Trump is now seeking to have his federal criminal trial delayed until after the 2024 election.

In a court filing late on Monday, Mr Trump’s lawyers asked the judge for a lengthy delay to his classified documents case, saying that due to the extraordinary nature of the case it would not be possible to try it before the election.

“Thus, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A), based on the extraordinary nature of this action, there is most assuredly no reason for any expedited trial, and the ends of justice are best served by a continuance,” his attorneys wrote in the filing.

“The Court should, respectfully, before establishing any trial date, allow time for development of further clarity as to the full nature and scope of the motions that will be filed, a better understanding of a realistic discovery and pre-trial timeline, and the completion of the security clearance process.”

Mr Trump has been charged with 37 federal counts over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

Tucker Carlson’s Twitter show has reportedly suffered a significant drop in viewership since his debut episode of Tucker on Twitter.

Carlson took to the platofrm after being fired by Fox News and making an abrupt exit from the network where he was a primetime star for years.