Trump news today: Trump hits out at Fani Willis as expected Georgia indictment looms after first Jan 6 DC case hearing

Supporters of former president Donald Trump heckled former vice president Mike Pence as a “traitor” as he visited the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Thursday.

A video from Iowa Starting Line showed a fellow fairgoer yelling at the former vice president for not being a true Christian.

“Pence is a traitor every day,” she said.

After Ohio voters repealed a law pushed by Republicans that would have limited unions’ collective bargaining rights in 2011, then-GOP Gov. John Kasich was contrite.

“I’ve heard their voices, I understand their decision and, frankly, I respect what people have to say in an effort like this,” he told reporters after the defeat.

The tone from Ohio Republicans was much different this past week after voters resoundingly rejected their attempt to impose hurdles on passing amendments to the state constitution — a proposal that would have made it much more difficult to pass an abortion rights measure in November.

Former president Donald Trump has again lashed out at Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Truth Social, ahead of a week in which it is expected he will be indicted for 2020 election interference in the Atlanta, Georgia area.

Returning to themes of attack he has deployed before, he called Ms Willis “RACIST” and criticised her professional record combating crime in Atlanta.

This week’s confrontation that ended with FBI agents fatally shooting a 74-year-old Utah man who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden was just the latest example of how violent rhetoric has created a more perilous political environment across the US.

Six days earlier, a 52-year-old Texas man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for threatening to kill Arizona election workers. Four days before that, prosecutors charged a 56-year-old Michigan woman for lying to buy guns for her mentally ill adult son, who threatened to use them against Biden and that state’s Democratic governor.

Fox Corp said on Friday that its chief legal officer who oversaw a $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation allegations is leaving the company.

Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal and policy officer, will step down effective 31 December the New York-based company said in a statement. He will remain a “special advisor” to Fox Corp, it added.

A Michigan Republican whose wife is being prosecuted for allegedly taking part in the Trump campaign’s scheme to send false electors to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory said state charges could trigger a “civil war.”

Josh Marcus has the story.

As he gears up for reelection, President Joe Biden is already facing questions about his ability to convince voters that the economy is performing well. There’s skepticism about the 80-year-old president’s ability to manage a second term. And on Friday, Biden faced a fresh setback when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to probe his son, Hunter.

Biden’s challenges pale in comparison to his predecessor and possible future rival, Donald Trump, who is facing three criminal indictments, with additional charges expected soon. But the appointment of the special counsel was nonetheless a reminder of the vulnerabilities facing Biden as he wages another election campaign in a deeply uncertain political climate.