Donald Trump is receiving swift backlash for claiming without evidence that “rogue prosecutors” were possibly responsible for handing his longtime associate Roger Stone a lengthy prison sentence, as Bernie Sanders' celebrates victory in New Hampshire.
The president's comments were described as a "vile smear job" by a key witness as former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said in a tweet: "Justice must be blind." Mr Trump's incendiary tweets came shortly after prosecutors said Stone should be sentenced to seven-to-nine years for lying to Congress during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, results from New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary continued to be dissected throughout the day, as Mr Sanders' strong showing appeared to place him on a clearer path to securing the Democratic nomination than ever before. Pete Buttiegieg and Amy Klobuchar, who trailed the Vermont senator respectively, have also since thanked supporters for their solid performances on Tuesday night.
The attorneys then resigned from the case after the Justice Department overruled them and said it would take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek for Stone.
The departures on Tuesday raised immediate questions over whether Mr Trump, who earlier in the day had blasted the original sentencing recommendation as “very horrible and unfair,” had at least indirectly exerted his will on a Justice Department that he often views as an arm of the White House.
The department insisted the decision to undo the sentencing recommendation was made Monday night — before Mr Trump’s tweet — and prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about it.
Even so, the departures of the entire trial team broke open a simmering dispute over the punishment of a Trump ally whose case has long captured the Republican president’s attention.
The episode was the latest to entangle the Justice Department, meant to operate free from White House sway in criminal investigations and prosecutions, in presidential politics.
The four attorneys, including two who were early members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia team, comprised the entire Justice Department trial team that won convictions against Stone last fall.
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A bipartisan group of senators have proposed legislation to turn components of the global women’s initiative led in part by Ivanka Trump into law, while establishing an Office of Women's Empowerment at the State Department.
Female development in business and economics became a key focus for Donald Trump’s daughter after she was appointed a White House senior adviser.
The programme, dubbed the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, has reached an estimated 12 million women worldwide since its launch in February of last year, according to Ms Trump.
Story to come...
The Independent’s Alex Woodward has more about the reports on Robert Hyde and how the president’s donor - who has been accused of “stalked” former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, handed over crucial evidence to Congress:
Along the way, he injected some big ideas into the mainstream of Democratic debate — chief among them a universal basic income — and roused a movement of supporters big enough and enthusiastic enough to earn themselves a nickname: The Yang Gang.
But in the end, it wasn’t enough to make him president. So what next?
The former governor, seen as a moderate and longshot candidate in the race to the White House, said in a statement on Wednesday: “I believed and still believe we had a strong case to make for being able to deliver better outcomes.”
“But the vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign's back to go on to the next round of voting,” he said. “So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective immediately."
The former White House press secretary under George W Bush has slammed Donald Trump after he claimed without evidence "rogue prosecutors" were responsible for sentencing his longtime associate Roger Stone to a lengthy prison sentence.
Ari Fleischer condemned the president’s comments after he lashed out on Twitter over Stone’s seven-to-nine year prison sentence, which he received for lying to Congress during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Trump governs like an outsider, saying what he thinks, letting it rip,” Mr Fleischer said in a tweet of his own to 370,000 followers.
“But there is a downside,” he added. “When the WH comments on a matter traditionally left to the Justice Dept., it makes the matter political instead of judicial.”
The former White House official added: “Justice must be blind.”
A key witness in the Roger Stone trial reportedly described Donald Trump’s accusations of meddling in the case as “appalling and ominous” in a statement, saying: “Trump's vile smear job on the 4 DC prosecutors were appalling and ominous … In my experience, I found them to be professional, moral, ethical and non partisan."
Randy Credico, an associate of Stone, also added on Twitter: “As the son of a man who spent 10 years in prison, I have consistantly [sic] opposed incarceration.”
Donald Trump says he has been told to expect “millions and millions of people” lined up to greet him when he and Melania Trump undertake their first visit to India later this month.
Speaking in the Oval Office, the US president called Indian prime minister Narendra Modi “a friend of mine” and “a great gentleman”, and hinted at the prospect of signing a limited trade agreement during the trip.
Mr Trump will travel to India on 24 and 25 February and as well as the capital Delhi, he is set to be given a grand welcome at the new 110,000-capacity Motera cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, billed as the largest stadium of its kind in the world.
After Democratic lawmakers and legal experts panned the president on Tuesday for using a tweet to trigger Attorney General William Barr to step in and lessen what was to be a nine-year sentencing recommendation for the longtime GOP political operative, Mr Trump showed the next morning he is feeling free to wield his power in new ways.
"Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted," Mr Trump wrote in a tweet.
