Trump news – live: DeSantis rises in shock 2024 poll as Trump sinks among GOP voters

Trump compares January 6th riot to Black Lives Matter protests

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A new poll from the Wall Street Journal has found that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is outpacing Donald Trump among likely GOP primary voters in a hypothetical 2024 matchup.

According to the survey of 1,500 respondents, Mr Trump trails his onetime follower by 14 points, and also lags behind him in popularity.

The poll comes as Mr Trump faces a plethora of headaches on the legal front – and it has now emerged that the Trump Organization lost a previously secret trial in 2021, resulting in the company being held in contempt of court. The trial was reportedly held after prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office requested that the company be punished for “willfully disobeying” four grand jury subpoenas and three court orders.

Meanwhile, January 6 select committee Chair Bennie Thompson told reporters the panel’s final meeting will take place early next week and the release of its final report will be on 21 December.

Mr Trump is ramping up his efforts to delegitimise its findings, falsely claiming once again that Nancy Pelosi was responsible for the Capitol’s vulnerability on the day and even suggesting in an interview Democrats “wanted” the violent insurrection to happen.

1671034830DeSantis tops Trump in 2024 pollRepublican voters have soured on former president Donald Trump following a disappointing midterm election for the GOP, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis holding a significant lead in a hypothetical head-to-head primary matchup, a new Wall Street Journal poll has found.

The survey of 1,500 respondents found Mr Trump trailing Mr DeSantis by a margin of 52 per cent to 38 per cent among voters who self-identified as likely to vote in a Republican primary in 2024.

Mr DeSantis also holds an advantage over Mr Trump when it comes to favourability among the general public, with 43 per cent of registered voters saying they view him favourably, compared with just 36 per cent who say the same about the twice-impeached ex-president.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 16:20

1671032702Congressman who called for “marshall law” before Jan 6 only regrets misspelling itGOP Congressman Ralph Norman was revealed this week to have texted Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff, demanding that “marshall law” be imposed to avert a Biden presidency.

Now, HuffPost reports that despite the ensuing outcry, Mr Norman is only embarrassed by his garbled typing.

Asked about the text on Tuesday, Norman said, “Well, I misspelled ‘martial.’”

Declaring martial law would entail Trump using the military to suspend ordinary laws and civil liberties and install himself in power.

“I was very frustrated then, I’m frustrated now,” Norman told HuffPost. “I was frustrated then by what was going on in the Capitol. President Biden was in his basement the whole year. Dominion was raising all kinda questions.”

The text to Meadows said, “Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of … no return … in saving our Republic !! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”

The Biden administration has condemned Mr Norman’s text. “Plotting against the rule of law and to subvert the will of the people is a disgusting affront to our deepest principles as a country,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement. “We all, regardless of party, need to stand up for mainstream values and the Constitution, against dangerous, ultra MAGA conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric.”

Read more from Alex Woodward:

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 15:45

1671030902ICYMI: The Trump Organization’s secret court defeatThe New York Times reported that a newly unsealed court document released on Tuesday revealed information about the one-day contempt trial.

The trial was held after prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office requested that the company be punished for “willfully disobeying” four grand jury subpoenas and three court orders.

Sravasti Dasgupta reports.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 15:15

1671029134Jan 6 committee withdraws Roger Stone subpoenaAs it wraps up its work and prepares for possible criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, the January 6 select committee is withdrawing subpoenas it issued to key players in the insurrection who have refused to testify to investigators.

Among those no longer facing a demand to testify is longtime extremist Republican operative Roger Stone, whose associations with the Proud Boys in particular have drawn the committee’s interest. The subpoena may have been pulled, but given his closeness both to the Trump inner circle and violent groups present on the day of the attack, he is expected to figure in the Justice Department’s separate January 6 investigation.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 14:45

1671027334Poll gives DeSantis lead over TrumpA new poll released by the Wall Street Journal has a topline finding that will surely enrage Donald Trump: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has for the first time apparently pulled ahead in the Republican 2024 primary stages, beating the former president by 52 to 38 among likely GOP primary voters.

Mr DeSantis also boasts an 86 per cent approval rating among the same group, as opposed to Mr Trump’s 74 per cent.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 14:15

1671025534US Capitol Police officer who testified at Jan 6 hearing resignsA US Capitol police officer is resigning, seeking to continue recovering both “physically and mentally” from the trauma of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021.

“It is with immense sadness that I announce my formal separation from the Department effective December 17, 2022 to continue to focus on healing, both physically and mentally, from injuries I sustained in the line of duty on January 6, 2021,” US Capitol police sergeant Aquilino Gonell wrote in a letter to his superiors.

“After speaking with my orthopedic doctor, my mental health providers, and my family, I think it’s in my best interest to take time off away from the daily reminders that keep re-triggering my trauma,” he added.

Josh Marcus reports.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 13:45

1671023700Elaine Chao says she won’t respond to Trump’s racist attack on herFormer Trump administration Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has said she won’t respond to the racist name-calling the former president engaged in during a rant aimed at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Graig Graziosi reports.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 13:15

1671021900Oath Keepers: Report says hundreds of people on leaked member list worked for Homeland SecurityA membership list for a far-right anti-government militia group, whose leader and several members have been convicted of seditious conspiracy against the US, includes current or former employees of the US Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency tasked with defending the nation against extremist groups.

A report from the Project on Government Oversight and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project discovered more than 300 people previously or currently employed by the DHS listed on a membership list for the Oath Keepers.

Alex Woodward has the details.

Oliver O’Connell14 December 2022 12:45

1671020100House GOP deny far-right links to mass shooter and Pelosi attacker in spite of evidenceThe House Judiciary Committee has concluded a seven-part series of hearings on white supremacist violence and far-right antidemocratic threats in the US, with hours of testimony addressing the scope and scale of white nationalism, political violence, and threats to LGBT+ people.

After Democratic chair Jamie Raskin (who also sits on the January 6 committee) made plain that “the threats have not subsided at all and are very much still with us today”, his GOP colleague Andy Biggs falsely claimed that the racist gunman who carried out a massacre at a grocery store in Buffalo this year was “an admitted socialist”. Another Republican, Byron Donalds, claimed that the Democrats are trying to link white supremacism to right-wing politics for their own cynical ends.

Alex Woodward reports on the committee’s final hearing before Republican lawmakers take majority control of the House.

Andrew Naughtie14 December 2022 12:15

1671018300Jan 6 rioter who assaulted police officers gets five years in prisonA Tennessee man who authorities say came to Washington ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot prepared for violence in a car full of weapons and assaulted officers who were trying to defend the Capitol was sentenced Friday to more than five years behind bars.

Ronald Sandlin, 35, of Millington, Tennessee, pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.

Two other men were separately each sentenced Friday to four years in prison Friday for their actions connected to the riot.

Rioter who assaulted cops at Capitol gets 5 years in prisonA Tennessee man who authorities say came to Washington ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot ready for violence in a car full of weapons and assaulted officers who were trying to defend the Capitol has been sentenced to more than five years behind bars

The Associated Press14 December 2022 11:45