Special counsel filings reveal allegations of Trump’s ‘increasingly desperate efforts’ to overturn 2020 election: Live

When the issue of gun violence came up at the vice presidential debate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had a personal story to tell: His teenage son, Gus, had been at a sports center last year when a shooting took place.

Gus Walz was at volleyball practice at the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center in St. Paul the afternoon of Jan. 18, 2023, when a 16-year-old was shot and seriously wounded outside.

It wasn't the first time Tim Walz had spoken about his son's brush with gun violence, and the shooting itself was widely publicized locally. But the Democrat's remarks Tuesday night at his debate with Republican JD Vance, as the public is still getting to know both vice presidential candidates, offered the biggest stage yet to personalize an issue that has deeply affected many American families.

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Vice President Kamala Harris thanks Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp for “his leadership and his close coordination” with the White House and federal authorities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

“There’s a lot of work that’s going to need to happen over the coming days, weeks and months, and the coordination that we have dedicated ourselves to will be long-lasting to get families, to get residents to get neighborhoods back up and running,” she said.

“We are at our best when we work together and coordinate resources, coordinate our communities to the maximum effect for the community.”

Harris added: “Today, I'm also announcing that the President has approved the governor's request for 100% federal reimbursement of local costs.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, former aide to then-vice president Mike Pence, says: “To this day it makes me sick to read about Trump’s pressure campaign against Pence & the subsequent disregard for his safety on [January 6].”

She pleads: “Republicans — it’s never too late to admit what we all know: Trump is wholly unfit for office.”

Donald Trump-endorsed Republican senate candidate Larry Hogan attempted to further distance himself from the Republican presidential nominee by criticizing the ex-president for refusing to say whether he wants Ukraine to defeat Russia.

Speaking at a campaign press conference at the Washington headquarters of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, Hogan, the former Maryland governor running for US Senate, slammed Trump for exhibiting what he described as a “lack of moral clarity” during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month.

John Bowden and Andrew Feinberg report.

As the political and legal world pours over the special counsel filing arguing that Donald Trump’s actions relating to overturning the result of the 2020 election were those of a private citizen and not covered by presidential immunity, the former president is trying to deflect attention on Truth Social.

Trump posted:

He added:

These MAJOR revelations and the fact, as recently confirmed by the Great John Solomon and the STRONG work of Congressman Barry Loudermilk and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, that the Deep State chose to DISREGARD my direct authorization of at least 10,000 National Guard Troops to ensure that Washington, D.C., was safe and secure on January 6th, automatically END the Sham J6 Civil Hoaxes and the lawless D.C. Case brought by Deranged Jack Smith, which has already been DEMOLISHED by the United States Supreme Court’s Historic Immunity and Fischer Decisions. I called for everyone to act PEACEFULLY and PATRIOTICALLY, and demanded that D.C. be PROTECTED. We have to END the Witch Hunts and restore our broken Justice System!

Special counsel Jack Smith has outlined a sprawling criminal case against Donald Trump for his attempts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, detailing for the first time the former president’s “increasingly desperate efforts” to cling to power with “knowingly false claims of election fraud.”

Trump intentionally lied to voters, election officials, and his own vice president, Mike Pence, in what amounted to a criminal effort to stay in office, according to the document filed in federal court in Washington DC on Wednesday.

“When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office,” the filing says. “With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost.”

Alex Woodward reports.

Vice President Kamala Harris joined a meeting at a utility building near downtown Augusta, Georgia, where the mayor and other officials briefed her on the unprecedented impact of Hurricane Helene.

“These are very difficult times,” she says, “and in a moment of crisis, I think that really does bring out the best in us.”

“I’m here to thank you and to listen,” she added.

Federal judge Tanya Chutkan has unsealed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 165-page redacted motion on presidential immunity with regards to the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump.

Read the full document here.

This is a developing story, more follows...