Donald Trump news today: Trump goes on the attack over Jan 6 probe as Mike Pence downplays Capitol riot

The Florida federal judge overseeing the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice case against former president Donald Trump has rejected the disgraced ex-president’s bid to delay his trial until after the 2024 election.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday issued an order granting the government’s request to set a speedy trial date and schedule for pretrial motions, with a start date of 20 May 2024.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Donald Trump has gone on the attack over the grand jury investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election – as he could be indicted on criminal charges as soon as this week.

In a Truth Social rant on Sunday night, the former president lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland claiming that the investigations are a “coordinated Hoax” and a ploy to “STEAL ANOTHER ELECTION through PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT at levels never seen before in the U.S.”.

“Just think of it! Between Mueller, Deranged Jack Smith, and Congressional Committees, over 100 Million Dollars has been spent investigating me since I came down the escalator in Trump Tower,” Trump fumed.

“Biden is a criminal, and almost no money, by comparison, has been spent investigating him. Get smart, Republicans, they are trying to steal the Election from you!”

The Georgia prosecutor investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state is reportedly weighing a racketeering indictment against the former president and others.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could rely on evidence tied to Mr Trump’s infamous call to the state’s top elections official to “find” votes for him, as well as the breach of voting machines by a group of Trump-connected operatives, according to The Guardian, citing two people briefed on the matter.

Prosecutors are reportedly reviewing a racketeering indictment including statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass.

An indictment is expected within the first two weeks of August.

Alex Woodward explains how a sprawling Justice Department probe into Donald Trump and his allies could result in several criminal charges against the former president.

Set aside the polls, the fundraising numbers or Donald Trump’s name recognition as metrics of his early dominance of the Republican presidential contest. He has what could prove to be the most important advantage in the race: a leg up in winning the delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination.

While the delegate count won’t begin taking shape until voting begins next January, Trump’s edge in the race to win their votes is years in the making.

Many state Republican parties made changes to their rules ahead of the 2020 election by adding more winner-take-all contests and requiring candidates to earn higher percentages of the vote to claim any delegates.

There is a scenario in which Gov Ron DeSantis would applaud the prosecution of former President Donald Trump — but only if Mr Trump were to do a “traditional crime” like “robbing a bank.”

“Look, nobody is above the law,” Mr DeSantis said in an appearance on Newsmax.

“If Donald Trump or any big political person gets caught robbing a bank or doing things that we know are traditional crimes that people get prosecuted for every day, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.”

Abe Asher reports on the governor’s comments.

Former vice president Mike Pence has said that he is not yet convinced that Donald Trump’s actions leading up to the Capitol attacks on 6 January 2021 were criminal as his former boss is expected to face federal criminal charges.

“While his words were reckless, based on what I know, I am not yet convinced that they were criminal,” Mr Pence, who is also a Republican presidential contender, told CNN’s “State of the Union”.

In one of the clearest signs that Mr Trump could face federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the former president said he had received a letter saying he is a target of a grand jury investigation.

“I hope it does not come to that,” Mr Pence said on a potential Mr Trump indictment over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He said it should be left to the American public to determine whether Mr Trump was responsible.

“His actions were reckless,” Pence said. He added: “I don’t honestly know what his intention was” on January 6 2021.

Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, made the biblical comparison to the twice-indicted and twice-impeached one-term president on Fox News.

The conservative actor appeared on Fox & Friends on Fox News on Thursday to promote his new anti-trafficking movie Sound of Freedom.

Former President Donald Trump shared a menacing new video on his Truth Social account on Thursday in which he promises to “do things that have never been done before” to people who “f*** around with us.”

Seeming to ignore that a federal trial date has been set for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith — dismissing his request to postpone it until after the 2024 election — Donald Trump instead took to Truth Social to attack two of his favourite foes: Fox News and Ron DeSantis.

Fox is down 58%, at least, all because they don’t treat “TRUMP” and “MAGA” well. They are focused on someone who can’t win, Ron DeSanctimonious, who will never be able to bring it home. The only reason DeSanctus won in Florida is because I Endorsed him, and Campaigned for him—He would have lost by 40 points. The sadder part is, he TOTALLY forgot! He also forgot he wanted to close down Social Security, Ethanol, and obliterate Medicare…

…Fox is gone, just like in 2016, and the only way they come back is if they go “ALL TRUMP ALL THE TIME.” Our people have had it! MAGA and America First are stronger than ever before, but we want and deserve support like the Radical Left Democrat Fascists get from so many sources, including the Fake News Media and Law Enforcement. Bring back Fox, before it’s too late!

The former president linked to a Breitbart article attacking both CNN and Fox News for suffering a “brutal ratings collapse”.

Journalist Aaron Rupar notes: “Fox’s coverage of Trump these days is overwhelmingly positive, and the entire primetime lineup of hosts are Trump supporters. Still not enough for him though.”