Trump launches belated attack on De Niro over awards speech: Live

In the heart of downtown Youngstown, Ohio, inside a conference room where the Youngstown State University board of trustees hold their meetings, a chorus of angry boos rang out when it was decided the college’s next president would be an election-denying MAGA congressman.

With little forewarning, YSU’s trustees selected Congressman Bill Johnson — one of five Ohio Republican congressmen to back a bogus Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate millions of legitimate votes in the 2020 election — as the university’s new president.

Three of the board members — all appointed to their positions by Republican Governor Mike DeWine — contributed to Mr Johnson’s congressional runs, according to the Youngstown Vindicator. Mr Johnson announced he would not seek re-election at the end of his term.

The only dissenting vote, YSU Trustee Molly Seals, said “I do not think the congressman is right for this job” in a statement.

Students, faculty, alumni, and community members were outraged to find out that Mr Johnson — who has no background in education of any kind — was offered the contract with only two hours notice and without any public input, according to local broadcaster WKBN.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi reports:

Former President Donald Trump is under four criminal indictments that will proceed through the GOP primary season, an overlap of legal and political calendars with no precedent in American politics. Fifteen states and American Samoa hold their GOP primaries on 5 March, known as Super Tuesday, which is also the day after his first trial is scheduled to begin in Washington on charges that he unlawfully sought to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump is dominating the Republican field and may secure much of the support he needs by Super Tuesday, by which time almost half of the delegates who select the nominee at the GOP convention will have been awarded. Even if he were to be convicted in Washington or another trial, top party leaders and many voters have indicated they would stand by Trump anyway. And Trump and his allies are pushing to dismiss and delay the trials and have worked with state parties to craft rules favourable to him.

The RNC rules don’t include any provisions specific to the unprecedented scenario unfolding.

Donald Trump has launched a belated attack on Robert De Niro after the star jabbed the former president in an awards ceremony speech last week.

The Hollywood actor was left fuming when he took to the stage at the the Gotham Awards in New York City on 27 November and noticed his speech had been censored to remove anti-Trump remarks.

Almost one week on, Mr Trump appears to have learnt about the incident – lashing out at De Niro on Truth Social.

“Robert De Niro, whose acting talents have greatly diminished, with his reputation now shot, must even use a teleprompter for his foul and disgusting language, so disrespectful to our Country,” he fumed.

“He has become unwatchable both in movies, and with the FOOLS that destroyed the Academy Awards, bringing them from one of the top shows in the Country to a Low Rated afterthought. De Niro should focus on his life, which is a mess, rather than the lives of others. He has become a total loser, as the World watches, waits, and laughs!”

Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman and one of Donald Trump’s greatest foes, has given a dire warning about the possibility of the former president returning to the White House.

Speaking on CBS Sunday Morning she even went as far as saying she would like the GOP to lose its House majority to prevent “collaborator” Mike Johnson from holding onto his role as speaker.

Ms Cheney spoke with John Dickerson of CBS News about the looming danger to democracy posed by Mr Trump as explored in her new book Oath and Honor.

After saying that Mr Johnson was “absolutely” a collaborator in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, Ms Cheney was asked what would happen if he is still speaker come January 2025.

The state-level criminal investigation into the 2020 election “fake electors” plot in Nevada has secured the cooperation of a key witness — Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer who orchestrated the scheme to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state.

Both CNN and The Washington Post report that Mr Chesebro has agreed to meet with investigators in the state in a bid to avoid prosecution there.

He pleaded guilty to charges relating to the plot in Georgia and as part of that plea deal has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the sprawling racketeering case against former president Donald Trump and 14 other co-defendants.

Mr Chesebro also agreed to cooperate with any relevant cases in the future both inside and outside the state.

It comes as a long-awaited federal appeals court ruling also determined that Mr Trump can be held civilly liable for inciting the riots at the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 in the wake of his 2020 loss.

Lawyers for Mr Trump had also tried to use his presidential “immunity” as a shield from the litigation.

In her ruling on Friday, Judge Chutkan said: “[The] defendant’s four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens.”

The decision tees up a legal fight over the scope of presidential power that could ultimately reach the US Supreme Court.

In addition to writing the foreword, the Louisiana lawmaker actively promoted the book by Scott McKay, a politics blogger, CNN reported.

Indeed, the speaker pushed the book on social media and dedicated an episode of his podcast to it.

The Revivalist Manifesto includes conspiracies often championed by the far-right, including the infamous discredited “Pizzagate” hoax concerning a high-ranking paedophile ring in Washington DC, and the unfounded conspiracy that the Democratic National Committee’s emails were not hacked in 2016 but leaked.

The judgement was passed down today in US District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Mr Trump’s attorneys attempted to use “presidential immunity” to shield him from civil action resulting from his incitement of the Capitol riot.

The appeals court was asked to determine whether Mr Trump has “demonstrated an entitlement to official-act immunity for his actions leading up to and on January 6 as alleged in the complaints.”

“We answer no, at least at this stage of the proceedings,” they wrote in a ruling on Friday.