Fox News host says Trump must ‘learn to lose’
Donald Trump will share a stage in Arizona for his first rally of 2022 with a host of allies who have amplified baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, including Mike Lindell, as well as members of Congress who objected to the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The former president also celebrated an announcement that US Rep John Katko, among Republican lawmakers who voted for his impeachment for inciting a riot fuelled by the same false election narratives, will not seek re-election.
Meanwhile, the federal government has brought a charge of “seditious conspiracy” against the leader of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia that prosecutors argue played a role in organising an attack on the US Capitol on 6 January last year.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has refused to provide the committee investigating the attack with information about his conversations with Mr Trump. US Rep Liz Cheney, one of the committee’s only two Republicans, said Mr McCarthy is attempting to “cover-up” what happened, and that the committee would evaluate other options for obtaining his testimony.
Follow live updates below
Biden invokes voting rights protections in MLK Day proclamation
In his proclamation recognising 2022’s Martin Luther King Jr Day, the president told Americans to reflect on the achievements of the civil rights movement and “continue his unfinished struggle.”
“That is why the Congress must pass federal legislation to protect the right to vote – a right that is under attack by a sinister combination of voter suppression and election subversion,” the president wrote, echoing his remarks against the wave of restrictive legislation passed by GOP state legislators in 2021.
“Just as in Dr King’s time, there are those who now say that change would be too disruptive and that these urgent needs can wait,” Mr Biden wrote. “But we must resist complacency, summon new resolve to advance the cause of freedom and opportunity, and do our part to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice. This is the cause of our time. … We all must find the courage to keep pushing forward in our struggle to realize Dr King’s dream for a freer, fairer, and more just society.”
Alex Woodward15 January 2022 19:30
Voting rights advocates rally in Phoenix to pressure Sinema on filibuster
As a host of election deniers and conspiracy theorists prepare to take the stage in rural Florence, Arizona, voting rights advocates are rallying about 70 miles away in Phoenix to push the state’s Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema to adopt filibuster reform to pass federal legislation to protect the right to vote.
Activists also led a march and heard from Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the late civil rights leader.
The march demands Arizona residents “call on Senator Sinema to urgently pass federal voting rights legislation and ensure that the Jim Crow filibuster does not stand in the way,” Mr King said in a statement.
The US recognises Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday.
Alex Woodward15 January 2022 19:24
Trump takes shot at Arizona governor
The day before his appearance in the state, Trump hit out at Arizona Governor Doug Doucey, a frequent target of the former president after he signed off on the results of the 2020 presidential election, while Trump allies continue to baselessly insist the results were fraudulent.
“Rumors are that Doug Ducey, the weak RINO Governor from Arizona, is being pushed by Old Crow Mitch McConnell to run for the U.S. Senate,” Trump said in a statement. “He will never have my endorsement or the support of MAGA Nation!”
Doucey has not indicated whether he plans to run for a Senate seat. He has no plans to attend Trump’s event.
Alex Woodward15 January 2022 18:47
Pence equates federal voting rights legislation with Capitol attack
In an op-ed in The Washington Post, former VP Mike Pence condemned the mob that “ransacked the Capitol, largely to try to get Congress and me, as the president of the Senate, to use federal authority to overturn results of the presidential election that had been certified by all 50 states.”
He then characterised Republican attempts to restrict ballot access and consolidate electoral oversight into the hands of GOP-dominated legislatures as “measures to try to restore confidence in the integrity of our elections” in the wake of the attack.
He then accused Biden and congressional Democrats of leading “another power grab” with federal voting rights legislation, by using the “memory of Jan 6” to defend breaking up the filibuster.
That federal legislation would create national framework for voter registration, mail-in ballots, early voting and voter ID laws. It would also make Election Day a holiday, combat attempts to strip oversight from nonpartisan election authorities, and protect election workers from harassment and violence.
He compared such efforts to an attack on the Capitol that sought to stop the certification of votes representing millions of Americans, as a mob chanted that they were there to “hang” him.
He also falsely claimed that “the notion that Congress would break the filibuster rule to pass a law equaling a wholesale takeover of elections by the federal government is inconsistent with our nation’s history and an affront to our constitution’s structure.”
The US constitution gives Congress the ability to set rules for federal elections.
Alex Woodward15 January 2022 17:28
2020 election deniers take centre stage at Trump’s Arizona rally
Trump is heading to Arizona, a hotbed of GOP-led conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, where a figure central to the QAnon movement is running for Congress, election deniers are vying for major government posts that play critical roles in electoral oversight, and a far-right congressman accused of fantasizing about murdering Democrats has not faced any repurcussions in office.
The former president has made clear that fealty to his baseless narrative that the election was rigged against him is critical to earning his endorsement.
On the guest list at his rally on Saturday night: Kari Lake, a candidate for Arizona governor; US Reps Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Debbie Lesko; and Mike Lindell, among the most notorious election fraud conspiracy theorists who spent millions on a spurious campaign to overturn the results.
Alex Woodward15 January 2022 16:39
What is seditious conspiracy?
The US Justice Department’s efforts to hold those responsible for the 6 January insurrection shifted into a higher gear this week with the unsealing of a 48-page indictment against Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes and 10 other members of his right-wing militia group.
All but Mr Rhodes and another defendant – Edward Vallejo of Phoenix – had previously been charged with crimes for their roles in the worst attack on the Capitol since British troops commanded by Major General Robert Ross set it ablaze in 1814.
Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against more than 730 people over the year that has passed since the attack, but the indictment of Mr Rhodes and his alleged co-conspirators stands out because it charges them under a rarely used provision of law that can be found in the chapter of the US criminal code titled “Treason, Sedition, and Subversive Activities”.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 08:30
ICYMI: Oath Keepers leader charged for role in Jan 6 riot
Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the right-wing militia group known as the Oath Keepers, has been arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, according to the Department of Justice.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 06:30
United Blue America?
When you crunch the numbers, a ‘national divorce’ between blue and red states starts looking pretty good — for Democrats, writes Benedict Cosgrove.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 05:30
Texas AG given days to hand over Jan 6 texts
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been given four days to hand over his digital communications from 6 January or face a lawsuit, the Travis County district attorney has stated.
Jade Bremner reports.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 04:30
Interview: Mary Trump – From 2024 predictions to Donald’s psychological deterioration
Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s niece, spoke to The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg about her uncle’s mental deterioration and possible 2024 run for president.
Oliver O’Connell15 January 2022 03:30
Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism
By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists
Already have an account? sign in