Iowa entrance polls show MAGA fans turned out for caucus: Live updates

The full transcript of Hunter Biden’s evidence to House Republicans has been released, following his six-hour testimony held behind closed doors.

Mr Biden was giving evidence in the Republican impeachment probe into his father, President Joe Biden. House members have accused him of using his father’s influence as leverage in lucrative overseas business deals.

However, so far they have struggled for evidence and have been accused of running a sham investigation in order to smear President Biden ahead of the November election.

Read the full transcripts here...

Ariana Baio writes:

For the last three presidential election cycles, North Carolina, a red-leaning state, has favoured the Republican presidential candidate. But a January analysis by Moody’s suggests it could flip in 2024.

It projects that the assumed Democratic nominee President Joe Biden will flip North Carolina in Democrats’ favour by less than a percentage point.

It’s no secret that North Carolina’s red has appeared more purple in recent years. Mr Trump barely secured the state in 2020, winning by a margin of 1.3 per cent. Republicans only narrowly won a Senate seat in the 2022 midterms by 3.2 per cent.

Republicans currently have control over the legislature but the governor is a Democrat. With an electorate that is almost completely split between the two parties, neither one can afford to lose any votes.

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The White House has formally called on Fox News to walk back its coverage of bribery and corruption allegations against Joe Biden.

In a letter sent to Fox News executives, White House spokesperson Ian Sams accused the right-wing network of failing to “retract, correct, or update its reporting” on a false allegation made by FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, about a bribery scheme worth millions involving the Bidens, according to CNN.

Mr Smirnov allegedly told the FBI that Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of Kyiv-based Burisma, used his father’s name to solicit millions of dollars in bribes from the company.

The claim, which has been central to attempts by Republicans to impeach the Bidens in Congress, was later found to be false.

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A pair of towns along the US-Mexico border became stages for two presidential candidates on Thursday as President Joe Biden slammed his predecessor and opponent for getting in the way of needed immigration reform and border security legislation.

Andrew Feinberg reports:

If a presidential election year wasn’t enough in Washington DC, this year will also see a lot of new faces in Congress, as many members have decided to not seek re-election, with many citing frustration with the chambers’ productivity as their reason for stepping down.

Eight Senators and 42 Representatives have announced their intentions to step down from their current post in 2024, with some running for different elected positions and others leaving politics altogether. Some of those could still run for their current seats if they do not win primary elections.

The mass Congressional exodus includes several controversial seats, which could alter the control of each chamber and numerous Committee chairs.

Here is a list of every member of Congress who has announced that they won’t seek re-election in 2024:

The House has voted to pass a stopgap spending bill, averting a looming government shutdown once again – and prompting pro-Trump Republicans to level fury against House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The continuing resolution will keep the government open until 8 March. The bill came as part of a larger agreement from Mr Johnson, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries as well as the leadership on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to vote on six of the 12 spending bills by 8 March.

The bill passed by 320 to 99 – Republicans being split on the matter and Democrats making up most of the support for the agreement. Only two Democrats voted against the legislation.

Eric Garcia reports:

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas has thrown his hat into the ring to replace departing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, becoming the first member of his party to do so.

Mr Cornyn, a close ally of the minority leader, released a statement announcing his candidacy in which he pledged to end “backroom deals” and give members adequate time to read legislation before it is voted upon.

John Bowden reports:

Eric Garcia report from Capitol Hill:

Senate Republicans have a clear message for former president Donald Trump about the race to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: stay out of this.

After they got over the initial shock of McConnell’s announcement on Wednesday, the race to replace him – namely among the “Three Johns,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune, Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso and Senator John Cornyn of Texas – has begun at a quick pace. Friends of The Independent’s Inside Washington newsletter Stef Kight and Stephen Neukam at Axios reported that Trump wants National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines of Montana to run for the job.

But Republicans expressed scepticism about Trump playing a role in replacing McConnell, his longtime nemesis.

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Mike Bedigan reports:

Donald Trump falsely claimed that “nobody speaks the languages” of migrants crossing the US’s southern border, in another wild and rambling campaign speech, in which he also echoed his previous remarks that were criticised as being similar to Nazipropaganda.

Both Mr Trump and President Joe Biden held duelling campaign trips to the southern border on Thursday in an attempt to seize the narrative around immigration.

The former president, speaking from Eagle Pass, Texas, wildly claimed that there were “millions of people from places unknown” coming into the US that “don’t speak languages”.

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Donald Trump is well-known for a lot of things: his divisiveness, his career in real estate, The Apprentice, his lawsuits, for being the only president to be impeached twice. But perhaps nothing has infiltrated society more than Mr Trump’s unique linguistic style.

Whether he’s posting on Truth Social, speaking at a campaign rally, or testifying in court, Mr Trump never seems to be at a loss for words — and sometimes, he even makes up new ones.

From uttering gaffes to tweeting typos (like “covfefe”) to misreading words (like “Nambia”) to dismissing his opponent with a harsh nickname, his terminology quickly turns iconic.

Here, The Independent offers a dictionary guide to the Mr Trump’s most memorable phrases: