NEW: Federal prosecutors are prepared to seek indictments against multiple figures in former president Donald Trump’s orbit and may yet bring additional charges against the ex-president in the coming weeks, The @Independent has learned independent.co.uk/news/world/ame… Per sources familiar, the Justice Department has made preparations to bring a superseding indictment against Mr Trump and could do so in several different venues, depending on how prosecutors feel the case against him in Florida is going. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

SCOOP: The IRS agent who claims @TheJusticeDept has slow-walked the Hunter Biden tax probe is refusing to speak to the Democratic-led @SenateFinance committee even as he cooperates with @WaysandMeansGOP. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame… The agent, Gary Shapley, cancelled a meeting with SFC staff and has cut off communication with the panel ahead of planned House testimony on Friday. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

Trump’s lawyers are probably not enjoying these remarks, as he’s going on and on about how declassifying things is “automatic” when he took things from the White House. Now he’s ranting about @NewYorkStateAG’s lawsuit and how he’s “under leveraged”

NEW: Excerpts from @POTUS' #StateOfTheUnionAddress tonight —

"The story of America is a story of progress and resilience…We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again. Two years ago our economy... ... was reeling. As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years. Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much...

🧵Here’s what happened.

A lawyer who lacks a valid security clearance was looking through a box at @JoeBiden’s home when he discovered a paper with classification markings.

It is illegal for the lawyer to view such papers, so he stopped his search rather than keep looking… 1/

https://twitter.com/andrewfeinberg/status/1614307097440657411

…to see if there were *more* documents that would’ve been a crime for him to look at.

Instead, he called someone who is permitted to look at such things without risk prison time.

That person finished the job and found five more pages, allowing the search to be finished… 2/

So far the 11th Circuit hearing isn't going well for James Trusty (Trump lawyer) — not 30 seconds in he's interrupted and asked if he can cite any case in which a court has used equitable jurisdiction in a pre-indictment scenario. Trusty starts talking about the "raid" and Circuit Judge Britt Grant interrupts him again to ask if the should be using the term "raid".

NOW: @January6thCmte chair @BennieGThompson says Trump "attempted a plan that led to an attack on a pillar of our democracy" and calls it "a staggering betrayal of his oath".

"The facts and testimonies are clear, consistent, and undisputed," he adds. .@BennieGThompson says hearing will show "new testimony from additional Republicans who served in the Trump administration, never before seen footage of congressional leaders on January 6" and "new materials" from @SecretService.

NEW: This appears to be the "major motion" Donald Trump has been talking about storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… Some problems with the filing that I've noticed so far:

1. Trump's lawyers discussing allegedly executive privileged materials admits he stole government property (presidential records) and is not helpful for asking for a special master since its no longer his privilege to claim

Cassidy Hutchinson was not a "coffee [person]". Here she describes the level and frequency of her contact with senior Trump officials and GOP members of Congress Hutchinson recalls a conversation with @RudyGiuliani regarding plans for 1/6: "We are going to the Capitol, it‘s going to be great, the president is going to be there, he‘s going to look powerful. Talk to [@MarkMeadows] about it. He knows about it."

Fox people appear stunned by police departments having rules on when officers can chase suspects New Orleans

Trump’s political future – and even his freedom – may be threatened by documents found at Mar-a-Lago, experts say ift.tt/mGDEYpv Former president Donald Trump would have known a letter from Kim Jong Un that he kept after leaving the White House was classified because he once threatened a @Time photographer with jail for trying to take a photo of it during an Oval Office interview. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

Am I? No.

But I'm old enough to remember when presidents regularly took questions from the entire press corps in a setting that allowed for follow-ups & in-depth answers, without screeching staffers cutting off the Q&A.

Do I think the behavior of some of my colleagues has...

https://twitter.com/BerkshireGirl71/status/1480214087963394052

...made presidents less amenable to a formal press conference setting? Absolutely. There are absolutely folks out there who are more interested in creating "moments" for the camera or who ask inane or inappropriate questions.

Is it annoying? Sure. But we have a free press in...

(thread) This story on @POTUS' lack of press conferences & interviews is solid, but misses something that may not have crossed @AamerISmad's mind because he works for the @AP.

Because of Covid restrictions the @WhiteHouse and @whca have... 1/

apnews.com/article/corona… ...colluded on, @JoeBiden has for the most part only taken questions from reporters pre-screened &approved by the White House press office.

For example, at his sole formal news conference on 25 March, only these outlets attended & @PressSec had a list of approved reporters 2/

NOW: Travis McMichael gets life without parole. Greg McMichael also gets life without parole for murder in sentencing from #AhmaudArberyTrial

NEW: Former vice president @mike_pence hasn't yet talked to the @January6thCmte, but sources familiar with his inner circle say the ex-Veep may as well be on board with the investigation into what brought rioters calling for his death to the Capitol. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame… Multiple sources told the @Independent that the extent to which ex-@mike_pence chief of staff Marc Short has cooperated with the committee so far is a sign that Pence could eventually be amenable to cooperating — or even testifying. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

NOW: AG Garland says @TheJusticeDept "remains committed to holding all 1/6 perpetrators at any level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day, or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault. on our democracy". "We will follow the facts, wherever they lead," Garland says.

"Because January sixth was an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy. We understand that there is broad public interest in our investigation...

NEW: The 2020 election was not the first one @MarkMeadows tried to overturn.

After Trump beat @tedcruz in the 2016 North Carolina primary, sources say Meadows tried to force the state party to send all Cruz delegates to the RNC against voters' wishes.

independent.co.uk/news/world/ame… “Even though Trump was going to be the nominee, and even though Cruz had dropped out...@MarkMeadows was working behind the scenes to blow up that slate,” a former official told the @Independent independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

NEW: Here's the entire bonkers “Election fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN” powerpoint that @MarkMeadows has provided to the @January6thCmte

Slides 1-7 Slides 8-15

Wow. Trump lawyer Justin Clark just stepped in it with Judge Millett. He's telling her that a former president could sue to stop a current president from using a previous administration's records to conduct foreign policy and national security decision-making. Clark can't give Millett a situation un which he thinks a court could let a current president use those documents under her hypothetical.

Wow. Travis McMichael guilty of malice murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Travis McMichael also guilty of felony murder (counts 2-5) and aggravated assault (counts 6-7), false imprisonment (8).

Judge to Justin Clark in Trump/NARA hearing: "isn't the person who is best able and in a position to determine the executive privilege the executive?"

Clark: "I don't agree with that."

This isn't going well for him so far. "The separation of powers issue...I find hard to discern here because in a rare instance, the executive branch and the legislative branch are in agreement," the judge says.