Donald Trump: Arizona Attorney General investigating Attempts to Overturn 2020 Vote, reports say – live

Kris Mayes reportedly moving forward with investigation into election tampering

From 41m ago

14.08 EDT

Arizona attorney general investigating Trump attempts to overturn 2020 vote - report

Arizona’s Democratic attorney general Kris Mayes is moving forward with an investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in the crucial swing state, the Washington Post reports.

• Mayes’s inquiry is the second known attempt by a state to hold the former president accountable for the effort to disrupt Biden’s win. 
• Fani Willis, a Democratic prosecutor in Fulton county, Georgia, is reportedly close to obtaining indictments in her investigation of Trump’s campaign to overturn Biden’s win in that state. 
• Separately, justice department special counsel Jack Smith is still investigating the former president over the January 6 insurrection, and the broader campaign to prevent Biden from entering the White House.

Here’s more from the Post’s report: 

• Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) assigned a team of prosecutors to the case in May, and investigators have contacted many of the pro-Trump electors and their lawyers, according to the two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe the probe. 
• Investigators have requested records and other information from local officials who administered the 2020 election, the two people said, and a prosecutor has inquired about evidence collected by the Justice Department and an Atlanta-area prosecutor for similar probes.

It is unclear if the investigation will broaden into other attempts to undermine President Biden’s victory in the state, including a pressure campaign by Trump and his allies to thwart the will of voters and remain in office.

Dan Barr, Mayes’s chief deputy, said the investigation is in the “fact-gathering” phase. He declined to say whether subpoenas have been issued and which state statutes the team thinks might have been broken.

“This is something we’re not going to go into thinking, ‘Maybe we’ll get a conviction,’ or ‘Maybe we have a pretty good chance,’” he said. “This has to be ironclad shut.”

The Hill

Arizona steps up criminal probe of GOP in 2020 election: report

Arizona is ramping up a criminal probe into allegations of efforts to overturn the 2020 election by state Republicans, The Washington Post...

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33 mins ago 

Arizona Mirror

Kris Mayes is investigating Trump's 'fake electors,' focusing on threats to election workers

COURT BATTLES

Arizona steps up criminal probe of GOP in 2020 election: report 

BY LAUREN SFORZA - 07/13/23 2:24 PM ET

SHARETWEET

FILE – Kris Mayes, smiles before a debate on Sept. 28, 2022. Arizona’s former attorney general Mark Brnovich, suppressed findings by his investigators who concluded there was no basis for allegations that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud. That’s according to documents released Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, by his successor, Kris Mayes. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Arizona is ramping up a criminal probe into allegations of efforts to overturn the 2020 election by state Republicans, The Washington Post reported. 

FAIR WARNING: Russia will treat F-16s in Ukraine as nuclear threat – Lavrov

 13 Jul, 2023 07:52

Russia will treat F-16s in Ukraine as nuclear threat – Lavrov

Western plans to provide US-designed fighter jets to Kiev represent an “extremely dangerous development,” Russia's foreign minister believes

Polish Air Force F-16 jets take part in the NATO exercise. ©  AFP / John Thys

"Moscow can’t ignore the nuclear capability of US-designed F-16 fighter jets that may be supplied to Ukraine by its Western backers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

By continuing to provide more sophisticated arms to Kiev, “the US and its NATO satellites create the risk of a direct armed confrontation with Russia, and this may lead to catastrophic consequences,” Lavrov warned in his interview with Lenta.ru on Wednesday.

The plans to supply F-16s to Kiev is yet another example of an escalatory move by the West and in itself is “an extremely dangerous development,” he stated.

• “We have informed the nuclear powers – the US, UK and France – that Russia can’t ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons,” the foreign minister continued.

“No assurances [by the West] will help here,” he warned. In the midst of fighting, the Russian military isn’t going to investigate whether any specific jet is equipped to deliver nuclear weapons or not, he added.

“The very fact of the appearance of such systems within the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be considered by us as a threat from the West in the nuclear domain,” Lavrov said. 

Read more

 Ukraine will receive F-16s – White House

In an interview on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said “there will be the transfer of F-16s [to Ukraine], likely from European countries that have excess F-16 supplies.”

A day earlier, Denmark announced that a “coalition” – which includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the UK and Sweden – would begin training Ukrainian airmen to fly the US-designed aircraft in August.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba suggested earlier this week that the first F-16s piloted by Ukrainians could take to the skies “by the end of the first quarter of next year.”

Kiev has been pressing its foreign backers for fourth-generation F-16 warplanes for months, arguing that they are crucial in providing air cover for Ukraine’s troops and defending Ukrainian airspace amid a massive Russian missile campaign targeting military facilities and energy infrastructure. 

• The US and its allies initially ruled out deliveries of the jets, saying the F-16 wasn’t the type of hardware that Ukraine needed, but changed their stance on the issue over time.

READ MORE: West to begin training Ukrainians on F-16s next month

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was no doubt that the F-16s “will burn” once they’re delivered to Ukraine, just like what has happened to tanks and other Western-supplied weapons."

Among all the successes of the 2023 championships there is another, less welcome winner, however, and that’s Russia | The Guardian

 When announcing the ban last year, Wimbledon said the decision had been taken in order to “limit Russia’s global influence” through the strongest means possible. “In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression,” the All England Club said, “it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with the championships.” 

• In an information war, the truth is difficult to discern and motivation hard to assert. A year after that statement, however, and with banned players successfully restored to competition, it feels distinctly like the benefits Wimbledon hoped to deny have ultimately been accrued.

Russians emerge as Wimbledon winners after charm offensive as ‘neutrals’

Russians such as Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva have made an unlikely impact on and off court after last year’s ban

Paul MacInnes at Wimbledon

@PaulMac

Thu 13 Jul 2023 13.30 EDT

IIt’s been a bounce-back tournament for Wimbledon: the crowds have returned, there’s a buzz around the grounds. The tennis has been engaging too, with the emergence of Carlos Alcaraz as a genuine contender and a series of upsets in the women’s draw. Among all the successes of the 2023 championships there is another, less welcome winner, however, and that’s Russia.

Russian players, alongside those from Belarus, were banned from participating in last year’s tournament after the invasion of Ukraine. This year, after Wimbledon found itself alone and under political and financial pressure, that position was reversed. Players could return as long as they did not compete under a flag and had signed a “personal declaration of neutrality” as part of their terms of entry. By the time the first round started, 18 Russians and Belarusians were in competition.

These neutral athletes have gone on to perform well. Four of them reached the quarter-finals of the singles (plus the Moscow-born Elena Rybakina, the defending women’s champion, who represents Kazakhstan). Two, Daniil Medvedev in the men’s and Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s, progressed to the semi-finals. There remains the prospect that Medvedev, who only 12 months ago was ostracised from SW19, could yet be photographed shaking hands with the Princess of Wales on the way to picking up a trophy.

Ukraine still ‘very proud’ despite end of Wimbledon run for Svitolina

Read more

On-court success extended beyond representation in the later stages. Medvedev has surpassed all his previous efforts on grass but so too did Andrey Rublev, who also served up perhaps the shot of the tournament when he found a winner while practically supine behind the baseline against Alexander Bublik. Roman Safiullin, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Daria Kasatkina, lesser-known Russians, all recorded personal best performances at the home of tennis. Finally, the cherry on top; Mirra Andreeva, the 16-year-old qualifier who became a 48-hour sensation after knocking out two seeds en route to the fourth round.

Success was extensive on court, then, but not limited to it. In engagements with fans and the media at Wimbledon this year, Russian stars have been charm personified. . ." 

Please continue >> The Guardian

From day one, the Guardian has covered every twist and turn of this savage conflict. We’ve dedicated formidable resources to our daily effort to help readers understand the war: frontline reporters, Russia correspondents, translators, photographers, drivers, filmmakers, editors, security experts…

At this crucial moment, with Russia’s own future in the balance, we need readers to support this expensive work. Will you make a difference and support us too?

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