News from Trump today: Iran’s supreme leader shares violent video of Donald as January 6 committee subpoenas Facebook

As many as 16 Michigan Republicans who submitted bogus certificates to the National Archives falsely claiming Donald Trump won seven states now face potential federal investigations.

On Thursday night, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office had referred the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan after a year-long investigation into the matter.

“I will say that under state law, I clearly think you have tampering with a public document, which is a 14-year offense, and tampering with election law, which is a five years,” Nessel told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

“But what we have decided to do with the investigation, in light of the fact that we have of course seen … different fake voters lists from several different states, in what appears to be a coordinated effort between the Republican parties in different states, we believe this is a matter that is best investigated and potentially prosecuted by the federal government.

Trump allies created fake certificates in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico, seeking to replace valid presidential voters, documents show.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was given four days to hand over documents for his Jan. 6 communication when he attended the pro-Trump rally before the riots.

The Travis County District Attorney determined that Paxton violated Texas open records law by withholding or failing to preserve his communications that should be subject to public release, Austin American Statesman reported.

Paxton, who is running for re-election this year, is under scrutiny over allegations of an extramarital affair as well as an ongoing investigation into FBI corruption.

The Republican has denied any wrongdoing in the business.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill issued subpoenas on Thursday to four big tech giants — Alphabet, Meta, Reddit and Twitter after the companies failed to provide the documents requested by the panel.

Committee chair Bennie Thompson in the letter criticized the platforms for “contributing to the violent assault on our democracy, and what steps – if any – social media companies have taken to prevent their platforms from forms of being a fertile ground for the radicalization of people towards violence”.

“It’s disappointing that after months of engagement, we still don’t have the documents and information needed to answer these fundamental questions,” said Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi.

Read Andrew Feinberg’s full report here

Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, has been arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to the Justice Department.

He was charged with 10 other members of the group with forming a conspiracy “to oppose the lawful transfer of power by force, by preventing, obstructing or delaying by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of power” which was to take place when former President Donald Trump’s term expires on January 20.

David McCormick, a Republican hedge fund executive, appeared to dodge questions when asked about Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

McCormick, who announced he was running for the US Senate in Pennsylvania on Thursday morning, was asked the question by an NBC10 reporter when he had not given a definitive answer to whether Trump had lost last year.

“Look, here’s what I would say, which seems obvious to me,” said McCormick, who describes himself as a pro-‘America First’ candidate.

“The rules have changed across the country and in Pennsylvania, there have been a number of election irregularities in Pennsylvania, you had that with the unsecured ballot boxes, you had that with the three-day extension… “

But he was interrupted by the reporter, who asked, “So, don’t you think the election results were clear?”

“Let me finish!” ” he has answered. “And as a result, most Republicans, a majority, don’t believe in the integrity of the election.”

Fox News host Laura Ingraham grew concerned about further violence after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 last year, a newly released text message revealed.

Six days after the uprising, on January 12, Ingraham wrote to Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, asking him to urge then-President Donald Trump to speak to his supporters and dissuade them from organizing armed demonstrations. against election results in state capitals across the country.

“Remarks to camera discouraging protest at state capitol[o]it’s sp[ecially] with weapons will be well advised given the heat of the situation,” she wrote. “[E]Everyone needs to calm down and pray for our country and for those who lost their lives last week.

Gustaf Kilander and Tom Fenton have the story.

Donald Trump has called politicians who refuse to say whether they received a ‘courageless’ Covid-19 booster shot – and he appears to be referring to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who dodged questions about whether he has taken the latest coronavirus vaccine.

Speaking on the conservative One America News Network, the former president said: ‘You have to say it. Whether you got it or not, say so.

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter lashed out at Mr Trump for defending Mr DeSantis on Twitter.

“Trump demands to know the recall status of Ron DeSantis, and I can now reveal it. He was a loyal recall when Trump ran in 2016, but then learned that our president was a liar and a con man whose claw was permanent. Hope this clears things up,” she wrote on Twitter.

Jade Bremner has the story.

Kevin McCarthy has been mocked by CNN after one of the network’s reporters asked if the House Minority Leader was covering up his role in the US Capitol riot.

CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju asked Mr McCarthy why the public shouldn’t conclude he was trying to “hid something” and prevent “the facts from coming out”.

Mr McCarthy, who rejected a January 6 request for information from a select committee, hit back that it was a ‘big question’, but before answering he added a jab at Mr Raju’s network

“Hopefully everything will be fixed at CNN, work this out with your employees,” McCarthy said.

CNN faces several scandals with its news staff beyond sexual assault allegations against Don Lemon, which it denies, and the high-profile firing of prime-time anchor Chris Cuomo for helping his brother, the former Governor Andrew Cuomo to defend himself against sexual harassment allegations of his own.

The network also fired John Griffin, a veteran producer who previously worked with Cuomo, after a federal grand jury in Vermont indicted him for allegedly attempting to “induce minors to engage in illegal sexual activity.” , according to the Department of Justice.

Rick Saleeby, one of Jake Tapper’s main producers, has quit after being arrested in connection with an investigation into “serious allegations involving potential child victims”.

Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro has been named the new host of right-wing network talk show The Five.

The promotion of her weekly Saturday night show Justice with Jeanine comes after she was named co-defendant in a $2.7 billion libel lawsuit brought by voting software company Smartmatic.

The lawsuit names Ms Pirro, along with Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo, Rudy Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell as falsely accusing Smartmatic of rigging the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.

The Independents Bevan Hurley has the story.

Right-wing internet personality Baked Alaska, who faces separate charges for allegedly participating in the January 6 storming of the US Capitol, was sentenced to 30 days in prison Thursday for pepper spraying a bouncer at a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Independents Josh Marcus follows the latest news.