Trump news – live: Trump headlines Turning Point event with Tucker and GOP allies as investigations close in

Donald Trump headlined the first of a two-day conference hosted by right-wing political activist group Turning Point USA alongside far-right lawmakers, candidates and pundits, including Tucker Carlson and Matt Gaetz.

The Turning Point Action Conference opened as the former president’s legal team presses courts in Georgia to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from investigating him for election interference and to quash the final report of a special purpose grand jury that recommends indictments against those in Trump’s circle.

Attorneys filed similar petitions in both the Georgia Supreme Court and Fulton County Superior Court after a separate grand jury was sworn in to hear evidence surrounding attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department special counsel investigating the former president threatened potential criminal charges against a Trump Organization employee suspected of lying to investigators, according to sources speaking with ABC News.

Jack Smith transmitted a letter to a staffer that indicated that he might have perjured himself in an appearance before the federal grand jury that ultimately indicted Mr Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, the sources said.

The letter appears to signal Mr Smith’s interest in the handling of surveillance footage and efforts to avoid sharing footage with investigators.

Hunter Biden lawyers warn Trump to end attacks

Lawyers for the president’s son Hunter Biden sent Donald Trump a cease-and-desist letter on Thursday, alleging that the former president’s frequent hostile comments about Mr Biden are defamatory and likely to inspire violence.

“We are just one such social media message away from another incident,” the letter, obtained by Law360, claims, citing the violent attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband as a cautionary tale of the dangers of online rhetoric.

Will he listen?

Poll: Americans are widely pessimistic about democracy in the United States

Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

A new poll finds that only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans

Giuliani knew claims about Georgia election workers were false, court docs show

A court filing from the mother-and-daughter pair of Georgia election workers who are suing Rudy Giuliani for defaming them shows that Mr Giuliani had no evidence that either of them was involved in any manner of election fraud when he passed surveillance footage of them to former president Donald Trump’s advisers as they scrambled to justify claiming the election had been stolen from the then-president.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Mr Giuliani is currently facing disbarment in New York and Washington for alleged misconduct committed while trying to help Donald Trump remain in office after losing the 2020 election

‘No reason’ to delay Trump documents trial until after 2024 election, prosecutors say

Prosecutors working under the supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith have urged Judge Aileen Cannon to reject former president Donald Trump’s request to indefinitely postpone his trial on charges that he allegedly unlawfully retained national defence information and conspired with his aide Walt Nauta to obstruct justice.

In an 11-page filing submitted on Thursday, Mr Smith’s team said Mr Trump and Mr Nauta have provided no valid legal justification for their request to delay any trial until a to-be-determined date set for sometime after the 2024 presidential election, and noted that such an open-ended request violates the 1974 Speedy Trial Act’s requirement that courts establish a “date certain” for trial “at the earliest practicable time” after consulting with both prosecution and defence counsel.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Mr Trump’s attorneys have asked Judge Aileen Cannon to delay his trial indefinitely

After hosting her book event, Kari Lake claims Arizona brewery is getting death threats

Kari Lake has claimed that an Arizona brewery has received death threats after it hosted her book event.

The far-right Republican attended the event at the Firetruck Brewing Company venue in Tucson to promote her book, Unafraid: Just Getting Started.

Graeme Massie reports.

The far-right wing Republican attended the event at the Firetruck Brewing Company venue in Tucson

Donald Trump brands US a ‘third-world hellhole’ run by ‘perverts’ and ‘thugs’ in rambling, threatening remarks

Donald Trump’s remarks – rambling, full of falsehoods, exaggerations, threats to democratic institutions and inflammatory statements targeting communities across the country – have concluded in Florida, where another lineup of Republican lawmakers and pundits will return to the Turning Point stage for more campaign-building speeches tomorrow.

Former president claimed American dream ‘dead’ under Joe Biden during Turning Point Action Conference