Trump news today: Text messages between homeland security officials before Jan 6 missing, says report

The House January 6 select committee’s investigation is now gathering evidence from more of former president Donald Trump’s Cabinet members in hopes of learning whether they seriously considered declaring him incapacitated after he incited a riotous mob to attack the US Capitol.

According to multiple reports, the panel has interviewed Steven Mnuchin, the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice producer who served as Mr Trump’s treasury secretary from 2017 until the end of his term on 20 January 2021.

Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.

A critical exchange of text messages between two top security officials Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli from the Donald Trump administration before the January 6 attack took place on the US capitol is missing, people aware of the matter have said, reported The Washington Post.

The report said that the messages between the top officials of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — the acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli — were lost “in a reset” of their official phones when they left their jobs in January last year.

This comes at a time the House Committee officials have learnt that the text message exchange between the US Secret Service agents were also deleted more than a year ago and may never be recovered, diluting a critical firsthand account of the events leading up to the violent attacks on the historic building.

Former President Barack Obama issued a rare statement praising President Joe Biden and the Democrats for achieving a set of wins this week that could see the party pass historic legislation to fight climate change, draw down inflation, and address other issues.

Mr Obama spoke via Twitter in recognition of his former VP’s progress this week, a day after it was announced that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had struck a deal with a moderate Democrat senator, Joe Manchin, to revive parts of Mr Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

The deal’s passage is far from a certainty given the yet-unannounced position of Mr Manchin’s fellow centrist Senator Kyrsten Sinema, but it is still a major step for DC Democrats hoping for major progress on the president’s priorities before the midterms.

John Bowden reports on what the former president said.

In a rare first, Donald Trump on Thursday made a public appearance sans makeup at the LIV Golf tournament and people could not stop looking at his face.

The 75-year-old former president teed off at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey to play in the Saudi-back tournament alongside notable celebrities including his son Eric Trump, professional golfer Dustin Johnson, Caitlyn Jenner and more.

Wearing a white polo, black pants, and a MAGA hat, many noted the former president’s face look surprisingly more natural than usual as he took practice swings.

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Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer shocked Washington on Wednesday when they announced they had reached an agreement on a spending bill to lower the cost of prescription drugs and combat climate change.

The legislation is significantly pared down from Democrats’ proposed Build Back Better spending package – which would have included everything from child care; an expanded child tax credit; hearing and dental coverage for Medicare; and home care for elderly people and people with disabilities.

Eric Garcia reports on what’s in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has reached an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer worth hundreds of billions of dollars to lower prescription drug prices, raise taxes, combat climate change and invest in renewable energy.

The bill represents a slimmer version of a massive domestic spending plan dubbed Build Back Better, which was a central pillar of Joe Biden’s first-term agenda.

Eric Garcia reports on what has been nicknamed “Build Back Manchin” — the Inflation Reduction Act.

Jared Kushner alleges in a new memoir that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly shoved Ivanka Trump out of the way that the former Commander of US Southern Command had both a bullying demeanour and a “Jekyll-and-Hyde” persona.

Mr Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, has rejected the allegation.

Gustaf Kilander has more on the allegation.

The Senate passed legislation to support research and development in the computer chips and semiconductor industry, with nearly every Democrat voting for the legislation and a large number of Republicans joining them. The bill’s passage tees up a vote in the House of Representatives.

The legislation is meant to support the manufacturing of semiconductor chips in the United States as a means for the US to compete with China and create jobs.

Eric Garcia reports from Capitol Hill.

Donald Trump wanted to stay in power “at all costs” because he was making “millions” off of being president, a January 6 committee member has said.

Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin appeared on Washington Journal on C-SPAN on Wednesday, saying that “to my mind, Donald Trump was really engaged in a lot of for-profit money-making activities in his administration, which would also explain his determination to stay in office at all costs”.

Gustaf Kilander reports on what else Mr Raskin had to say about the former president.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson is cooperating with the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to a report.

Ms Hutchinson, a former top adviser to then-president Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, gave explosive testimony to the House committee that is also investigating the violent events of January 6 last month. Investigators from the Justice Department reached out to Ms Hutchinson after her testimony to the House committee, reports ABC News.

The outlet also reported that the “extent of her cooperation was not immediately clear.”