Election 2024 live updates: Trump begins transition; three charged in alleged Iranian plot to kill the president-elect

John Rentoul writes:

I assume that speculation about Nigel Farage becoming Britain’s ambassador to the United States is based on little more than putting two and two together: that Farage is a friend of Donald Trump’s and that Keir Starmer will need help in managing his relationship with the next president.

In fact, the Clacton MP and leader of Reform UK ruled himself out of consideration two weeks ago, saying: “Clearly, I’ve decided to get back into elected politics, so I’m off the table.”

He could of course rule himself back in again. Two days ago, he wrote an article for the Daily Telegraph offering his services in an informal role: “If I can be helpful in any way when it comes to bridging the divide that exists between Starmer’s government and Trump, I will be glad to assist.”

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The Department of Justice said in a statement on Friday that three people – Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran; Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York – have been charged after allegedly being involved in a plot to kill a U.S. citizen “of Iranian origin in New York.”

“Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, and Loadholt was arrested in Staten Island, New York, yesterday. Shakeri remains at large and is believed to reside in Iran,” the department said.

The Attorney General, Merrick Garland, said: “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.”

He added: “We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime.”

Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, took to X to point to a survey from before the election, showing that those who are misinformed about major issues are more likely to vote Republican.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in early October found that those who falsely believed that violent crime is at an all-time high in most major Americans were significantly more likely to back the GOP.

Racist text messages have been sent to people across several states stating that they’ve been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”

People in North and South Carolina received the messages, which identified individuals by their name and stated that they would be forced into slavery, according to WCNC. The texts came a day after Election Day.

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said people in the Empire State were also targeteted.

“The racist text messages targeting New Yorkers, including middle school, high school, and college students, are disgusting and unacceptable,” she said in a statement. “I unequivocally condemn any attempt to intimidate or threaten New Yorkers and their families. I encourage anyone in New York who has received an anonymous, threatening text message to report it to my office.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith told a federal judge on Friday that he may have a decision by December 2 on how to resolve the criminal case looking at Trump’s role in the Capitol riot.

Smith requested that Judge Tanya Chutkan remove all upcoming deadlines to allow his office to look at how to progress as Trump’s prepares to retake the White House in January.

The prosecutors wrote in a filing that “As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025.”

They added: “The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations,” they said.

Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld joked that prosecutors in Donald Trump’s criminal cases should get the death penalty.

With the Justice Department in talks with special counsel Jack Smith about dropping two of the federal cases he is overseeing against Trump, The Five panelists had some back-and-forth about what should happen to those who sought the president-elect behind bars.

“Dana… a lot of the people that were on this and wanted it so badly, how are they going to survive? Do you think they need therapy,” Gutfeld asked Perino on Thursday’s show.

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The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump before this week’s presidential election.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed official in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact this past September to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Trump.

If the man, identified as Farjad Shakeri, was unable to create a plan by then, the complaint said, the official told him Iran would pause its plan until after the presidential election because the official believed Trump would lose and it would be easier to assassinate him then, the complaint said.

Shakeri told the FBI he didn’t plan to propose a plan to murder Trump within the seven days the official had requested, according to the complaint.

The plot, with the charges unsealed just days after Trump’s defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris, reflects what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target U.S. government officials, including Trump, on U.S. soil.

Trump took to Truth Social on Friday to say that he has “no intention” of selling shares in his social media company.

“There are fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors and/or statements made by, perhaps, market manipulators or short sellers, that I am interested in selling shares of Truth,” he wrote. “THOSE RUMORS OR STATEMENTS ARE FALSE. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!”

He added: “I hereby request that the people who have set off these fake rumors or statements, and who may have done so in the past, be immediately investigated by the appropriate authorities. Truth is an important part of our historic win, and I deeply believe in it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Tim Walz’s daughter expressed her anger over her father and Kamala Harris’ failed bid for the White House.

Hope Walz stated America “does not deserve Kamala Harris” as she shared her thoughts on President-elect Donald Trump’s historic win.

In a video posted on TikTok on Thursday (7 November), she said: “That woman should go live her best life wherever she wants, doing whatever she wants, because we don’t deserve her at this point.

“These people have to live in their own skin, as in JD Vance and Donald Trump have to be JD Vance and Donald Trump and that is not a punishment I’d wish upon anybody but those two individuals.”