Donald Trump news today: Trump team meeting with special counsel Jack Smith ahead of expected Jan 6 grand jury vote

Attorneys representing Donald Trump are meeting with Special Counsel Jack Smith and his staff in a last-ditch bid to head off a third criminal indictment for the twice-impeached, already twice-indicted former president as he continues to campaign for a return to the White House in the 2024 election.

Mr Trump, who on 18 July admitted that prosecutors had notified him that he is a target of Mr Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol, is understood to be facing the possibility of charges under three federal criminal statutes: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law, and witness tampering.

Andrew Feinberg has the latest from Washington, DC.

In just one brief clip from this morning’s interview with House GOP conference chair Rep Elise Stefanik, Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo suggests Janet Yellen should be impeached for “telling us inflation is transitory” while also suggesting the impeachments of President Joe Biden, and secretaries Mayorkas, Garland, and Granholm.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy just rapped in an appearance on Fox & Friends.

The longshot candidate has surprised many by advancing in the polls in recent weeks, ahead of some of the bigger names competing for the party’s nomination.

Not sure this will help him advance further.

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have arrived at special counsel Jack Smith’s offices this morning for a meeting as a potential indictment looms over Mr Trump’s involvement in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The grand jury considering the case has also assembled as they do on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The US economy defied expectations to see growth pick up in the second quarter, according to government data released Thursday, supported by business investment and resilient consumer spending.

GDP growth in the world’s biggest economy came in at an annual rate of 2.4 per cent for the April-June period, said the Commerce Department, despite analyst expectations of a slower rate.

This was also an increase from the two per cent rate in the first three months of 2023.

Although economists have been warning of a potential slowdown as the US central bank raised interest rates rapidly in the past year to tamp down demand and lower inflation, the economy has proven more resilient than expected.

The path of Hunter Biden’s criminal case took an unexpected turn on Wednesday when a judge appeared ready to toss out a plea deal the president’s son had reached with federal prosecutors over charges of unpaid taxes and lying on an application for a firearm.

Mr Biden was in court on Wednesday to enter a guilty plea had Judge Maryellen Noreika signed off on the agreement.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to headline next month a barbecue billed as South Carolina‘s largest annual gathering of Republicans.

This centrepiece appearance, in a state where success has historically been a catalyst for GOP presidential nominees, provides DeSantis with an opportunity to make his case in front of a large number of party activists, with whom former President Donald Trump, the GOP primary front-runner, remains popular.

DeSantis will speak on 28 August at the Faith & Freedom BBQ in Anderson, event host Rep Jeff Duncan told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Despite leading the race to be the Republican Party’s next presidential candidate, Donald Trump’s legal woes continue to mount.

Last week, Mr Trump was informed by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith that he is the target of a grand jury investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in the deadly Capitol riot of 6 January 2021.

This comes after he has already been indicted twice this year – once over hush money payments allegedly made during his 2016 election campaign and second over his alleged mishandling of classified documents since leaving the White House.