Trump news: Judge says ‘plausible’ ex-president incited Jan 6 riot as Mar-a-Lago docs referred to DoJ

President Joseph R. Biden spoke today with Transatlantic leaders about the likelihood of further Russian aggression against Ukraine. Together they expressed deep concern over Russia’s continued build-up of forces, reiterated their strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and discussed the importance of further economic assistance to Ukraine. They pledged to continue pursuing diplomacy to de-escalate tensions while ensuring readiness to impose swift, coordinated economic costs on Russia should it choose further conflict. The leaders also discussed efforts to ensure the defense and security of Nato’s eastern flank. Participants in the call included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, President Andrzej Duda of Poland, President Klaus Iohannis of Romania, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom.

US President Joe Biden on Friday blamed Russian-backed separatist forces for “a major uptick” in violence as part of a Russian plan to create a “pretext” for an invasion of Ukraine and said a series of Russian claims suggesting that Ukrainian forces were preparing a major offensive “defies logic”.

“There is simply no evidence for these assertions and it defies basic logic to believe the Ukrainians would choose this moment — with well over 150,000 troops arrayed on its borders — to escalate a years-long conflict,” Mr Biden said while speaking from the White House diplomatic reception room.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

Stewart Rhodes, the leader of one of the largest extremist groups in the United States, has been denied bail ahead of his trial for seditious conspiracy.

Mr Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia, stands accused by prosecutors of organising a plot to “oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force,” which was centered around the attack on the US Capitol last year.

Richard Hall reports.

Joe Biden has said he does not believe Vladimir Putin is planning to use nuclear weapons if the Russian leader decides to invade Ukraine.

A day after America top diplomat said any attack by Russia could go beyond the use of “conventional” weapons, and even claimed it could involve chemical weapons, Mr Biden said he did not believe nuclear weapons would be involved.

Speaking at the White House where he outlined conversations he had earlier in the day with European leaders, the president was asked his reaction to the fact Mr Putin was reportedly planning to spend the weekend overseeing nuclear drills.

Andrew Buncombe reports.

Experts say a court filing that has become fodder for Trumpworld’s endless series of accusations against Hillary Clinton raises serious ethical questions, writes Andrew Feinberg.

Former US Secretary of State opened her speech at the New York State Democratic by taking a dig at former President Donald Trump, moments after a New York judge ruled that Mr Trump and two of his children must testify in the state attorney general’s investigation into his business practices.

“It’s funny, the more trouble Trump gets into the wilder the charges and conspiracy theories about me seem to get,” Ms Clinton said on Thursday at the Sheraton Times Square hotel in New York City. “So now his accountants have fired him and investigations draw closer to him, and right on cue the noise machine gets turned up doesn’t it?”

More than 3.7 million American children re-entered poverty after the expiration of monthly payments through a pandemic-era federal programme that expired at the end of 2021.

The Archivist of the United States confirmed in a letter to Congress on Friday that records retrieved from Trump’s club Mar-a-Lago contained classified information.

Archivist David S Ferriero sent a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney in response to questions she asked about records seized at Mr Trump’s residence. Earlier this month, the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago that it said “should have been transferred to NARA from the White House at the end of the Trump Administration in January 2021.”

One of the most infamous of the 6 January rioters who attacked the US Capitol has been released from jail after serving her sentence – and has immediately returned to social media to share angry conspiracy theories about the state of the US.

Donald Trump does not have absolute immunity from multiple civil lawsuits seeking to hold him accountable for the attacks on the US Capitol, according to a federal judge’s ruling on 18 February.

In his 112-page opinion, US District Judge Amit Mehta said that the president’s rally speech on 6 January, 2021 that preceded the assault “can reasonably be viewed as a collective action.”

His opinion determined that arguments in several lawsuits are “plausible” in their allegations that the former president’s “words at the rally sparked what followed”.

Alex Woodward reports.