Trump news today: Jan 6 committee won’t call ex-president to testify

Elon Musk’s plan to take over Twitter has hit some road bumps lately, with the sometimes-erratic tech billionaire indicating he may not be happy with the originally agreed $44bn price tag and questioning whether the company’s estimate of the number of spam accounts is accurate. But for now, he insists the buyout is going ahead – and he has also said that Donald Trump should have his account restored.

Mr Trump so far insists he will remain on Truth Social, which has struggled to retain users since its botched launch earlier this year. Do you think Trump should be allowed to return to Twitter? Vote in the poll below and feel free to let us know what answer you chose and why in the comments.

The Department of Justice has reportedly asked the 6 January committee to provide it with copies of transcripts from its many witness interviews – apparently because the interviews may have yielded “information relevant to a criminal investigation we are conducting”. The identity of the subject (or subjects) of that investigation is not yet clear.

The department’s slowness to act on potential criminal charges related to the insurrection has caused consternation among many Trump critics, though some have cautioned that acting rashly could set a bad precedent of the department being abused to investigate presidents’ enemies.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Donald Trump is awake and posting on Truth Social – and as some have predicted, he is furious at the possibility that his chosen candidate, Dr Mehmet Oz, might lose the Pennsylvania Senate primary because of his rival Dave McCormick’s possible strength in the mail-in vote:

As the 6 January select committee prepares for the kickoff of its summer hearings, chair Bennie Thompson told reporters yesterday that the panel probably will not ask or compel Donald Trump to testify, explaining that “We’re not sure that the evidence that we receive can be any more validated with his presence. I think the concern is whether or not he would add any more value with his testimony.”

Read more below from Abe Asher.

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy and other crimes related to the 6 January riot – and today, he will be apperaring virtually to ask a court for release from pre-trial detention.

According to CBS’s Scott MacFarlane, it seems Mr Tarrio’s legal team have lately visited the target of the attack.

Catch up on the details of Mr Tarrio’s indictment here.

The days when Fox News worked hard to present itself as “fair and balanced” are long gone, but there is at least still some pretense among the network’s highest-profile stars that they remain outside politics looking in.

The latest incident to dispel that image came last night with Dr Mehmet Oz’s speech after the Pennsylvania primary, in which he explicitly thanked Sean Hannity for making a difference “behind the scenes” of his Trump-endorsed campaign – “giving me advice on late night conversations, again, the kinds of things that true friends do for each other”.

The Trump-endorsed Dr Oz appeared on Mr Hannity’s show multiple times during the campaign without these chats being mentioned.

It seems the 6 January select committee is reaching back out to key witnesses from the Trump administration. Appearing today will be press secretary-turned-critic Stephanie Grisham, who has spoken to the panel before.

The committee’s public hearings are set to begin on 9 June.

The Chinese government was one of Donald Trump’s go-to targets even before he became president, with Beijing’s supposed gaming of the international system and malign influence in US politics providing ample fodder for his isolationist, grievance-laden speeches. But now, a key figure who lobbied Mr Trump’s administration is in hot water over his Chinese links.

The Justice Department is suing Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn to compel him to register as a foreign agent because of lobbying work it says he performed on behalf of the Chinese government.

The department said it had advised Wynn repeatedly over the last four years to register under the Foreign Agents Registration, and that it’s taken the decision to sue him now because he is still refusing to do so.

John Bowden has this report from North Carolina, where hardcore right-winger Madison Cawthorn has lost his seat despite Donald Trump’s endorsement. The freshman congressman has been engulfed by embarrassing and shocking stories since he was elected in 2020, and in recent months things reached the point that even the pro-Trump party establishment began to marshal resources against him.

Read John’s full dispatch below.

Federal prosecutors have asked the House of Representatives committee investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol to provide transcripts of witness interviews and depositions taken by committee members and staff, according to a New York Times report.

A “person with knowledge of the matter” told the Times committee chairman Bennie Thompson has not reached any agreement with Attorney General Merrick Garland or other Justice Department officials regarding what, if any, documents will be provided.

But the department has been in communication with the panel since 20 April. The communications between the department and the select committee are an indication that the department is looking more closely at efforts byDonald Trump and his allies to install Mr Trump in the White House for a second term against the wishes of American voters.

Andrew Feinberg has more.