Sources say the Monday morning search was part of an inquiry into missing White House records after Trump’s presidency. Plus, tributes pour in for Olivia Newton-John
Good morning.
Federal investigators have seized documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, according to two sources familiar with the matter, the latest indication of a sharply intensifying criminal investigation by the US justice department into his affairs.
The FBI executed a search warrant yesterday morning at Trump’s residence, the sources said, as part of an ongoing investigation examining the former president’s potentially unlawful removal and destruction of White House records after he left office last year.
The move by the justice department to search Mar-a-Lago over the removal of 15 boxes of presidential records from the White House, including classified documents, as well as the destruction of other materials, marks a dramatic escalation in the inquiry.
“My beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a bitter statement on Monday evening, adding: “They even broke into my safe!”
– Was Trump at home at the time of the raid? No. The former president was at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, one of the sources said.
– How did the Republicans react to the news about the raid? They responded furiously to the development, following Trump’s lead in claiming that the search showed the justice department waging a politically motivated witch-hunt. It’s a familiar playbook.
– What lawsuits and investigations is Trump facing? The businessman and politician is facing investigations and lawsuits on a number of fronts.
Russia suspends US inspections of its nuclear weapons arsenal
Russia has suspended an arrangement that allowed US and Russian inspectors to visit each other’s nuclear weapons sites under the 2010 New Start treaty, in a new blow to arms control.
Mutual inspections had been suspended as a health precaution since the start of the Covid pandemic, but a foreign ministry statement on Monday added another reason Russia is unwilling to restart them. It argued that US sanctions imposed because of the invasion of Ukraine stopped Russian inspectors travelling to the US.
“There are no similar obstacles to the arrival of American inspectors in Russia,” the statement said. “The Russian foreign ministry raised this issue with the relevant countries, but did not receive an answer.”
The US state department did not immediately respond to the claim that the sanctions created an imbalance when it came to nuclear weapons inspections. A spokesperson said: “The United States is committed to implementation of the New Start treaty, but we keep discussions between the parties concerning treaty implementation confidential.”
– The treaty, which limits each country’s deployed strategic warheads to 1,550, and imposes limits on delivery systems, was extended for five years in February 2021. Its inspection and verification clauses are widely seen as vital in building mutual confidence and preventing nuclear miscalculation.
Tributes flow for Olivia Newton-John after Grease star’s death
Hollywood, musicians and Australian leaders are mourning Olivia Newton-John, who died on Monday at her southern California ranch at the age of 73. The Grease star and chart-topping singer, who publicly discussed her breast cancer since her first diagnosis in 1992, died surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement posted to her Facebook page by her widower, John Easterling.
Shortly after her family’s announcement, tributes began pouring in from former costars to longtime celebrity admirers of the soft-rock icon – Newton-John sold more than 100m records and charted nearly 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 during her nearly five decades in music.
Her Grease costar John Travolta posted to Instagram: “My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!”
Singer Dionne Warwick tweeted: “Another angelic voice has been added to the Heavenly Choir. Not only was Olivia a dear friend, but one of the nicest people I had the pleasure of recording and performing with.”
– When was she diagnosed with breast cancer? In 2017, she revealed the breast cancer she had first suffered in 1992 had returned and had spread to her spine. She also revealed she’d had a second cancer diagnosis in 2013 but had kept it quiet. A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
– Was she in any other films? After soaring to fame in Grease, she became the queen of the movie soundtrack album. Her roles in oddball hits Xanadu and A Mom for Christmas meant audiences never stopped loving her.
686 total views