Former President Donald Trump was acting as a private candidate for office, not as the president of the United States, when he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss and “resorted to crimes to stay in office,” a new filing from special counsel Jack Smith asserts.
The filing, released yesterday, is connected to Trump’s federal election case and is a response to the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. It includes new details about Trump’s actions after the 2020 election and leading up to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, including testimony detailing Trump’s conversations with former Vice President Mike Pence. In one discussion on Nov. 12, Pence offered Trump a “face-saving option,” telling him to not concede the election “but recognize the process is over.”
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Other revelations include analysis from an FBI expert that showed Trump was scrolling Twitter during the Capitol riot, as well as new evidence that an unnamed assistant overheard Trump saying to family members after the 2020 election, “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.”
Smith’s team once again argued that Trump knew his statements about the 2020 election were, in fact, lies and said he relied upon his own campaign employees and volunteers to carry out the alleged scheme.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the “falsehood-ridden” filing and declared the case a “partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt.”
Israel prepares Iran response and strikes central Beirut as Lebanon faces ‘apocalyptic’ situation
Israeli strikes in the heart of the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed at least nine people and wounded seven overnight, health officials said. The strikes hit the neighborhood of Bachoura, which is within walking distance of the prime minister’s headquarters, as well as many foreign embassies. Three people were immediately killed while three more died afterward from their injuries, the country’s Ministry of Health said.
An “apocalyptic” situation is mounting across Lebanon, healthcare workers have warned, with some 1.2 million people displaced and many sleeping on the streets of Beirut. One U.S. permanent resident is among the dead, and about 100 U.S. citizens and their families left last night on an evacuation flight as other countries announced their own plans.
Israel is also preparing its response to Iran’s missile attack earlier this week, Israeli and U.S. officials say.
Follow our live blog for updates.
More coverage of the Middle East conflict:
- Israel has vowed its Iran retaliation will be swift and “painful” — but what might that look like?
- Families in a Lebanese town near the border of Israel found refuge from airstrikes in a monastery. But after a day’s reprieve, they face yet another displacement.
- Hamas is “disappointed” by the lack of support from other Middle Eastern countries, a senior official for the militant group said.
North Carolina mountain town is wrecked by Helene
The death toll from Hurricane Helene and its aftermath rose to 190 people across Southeastern states, according to an NBC News tally, and hundreds of people are still missing. Thursday marks a week since the storm first made landfall in Florida before traveling through parts of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, leaving destruction in its wake. For residents of Swannanoa, North Carolina, about 20 miles east of Asheville, the shock is still raw.
NBC News reporter Deon Hampton spoke to residents of the small mountain town. Brown mud coated the few buildings still standing, he noted. Many other structures were reduced to splinters. And whenever the wind kicked up, the smell of dust and dirt filled nostrils.
“I don’t think anybody, including the government, thought this was what we were gonna get,” said Beverly Eller, 68, who has been staying in shelters after she and her husband narrowly escaped floodwaters in their home. Meanwhile, Stewart Cody, who owns a local body repair shop, estimated it’ll take months to reopen his shop. And without insurance, the damage is going to cost him dearly. Read the full story.
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