The fallout from and reaction to federal agents’ search of Mar-a-Lago – former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, home – is expected to continue Tuesday as onlookers attempt to process what has happened and what may come next. Two sources told USA TODAY that the search Monday was part of a federal investigation into allegations Trump removed classified documents from the White House when he left office. The former president did not say why the agents appeared to be at his property but, in an emailed statement, added that “this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.” Trump is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly removing presidential records and storing them at Mar-a-Lago for up to a year, a potentially serious violation of the law if the records were classified. Trump has denounced that probe. Historian Matthew Dallek told USA TODAY a law enforcement agency “raiding a former president’s house is stunning, period – and unprecedented. Even for Trump.”
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President Joe Biden is scheduled to sign a bipartisan bill into law Tuesday that would boost domestic manufacturing of computer chips. Congress passed the bill, known as the CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) Act, last week. The bill provides more than $52 billion in grants and other incentives for the semiconductor industry as well as a 25% tax credit for those companies that invest in chip plants in the U.S. It calls for increased spending on various research programs that would total about $200 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a shortage of semiconductor microchips, which power thousands of products such as cars, cellphones, appliances, gaming consoles and medical devices.
Voters in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut will head to the polls for primary elections on Tuesday. Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race is a proxy battle between former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. Tim Michels, a construction executive in his first political race, has secured an endorsement from Trump, while Pence is backing Rebecca Kleefisch the former lieutenant governor. In Vermont, the Democratic primary is tantamount to the general election in this liberal state, and Tuesday’s contest will very probably decide who will be the state’s first-ever female U.S. House member. Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, supported by Vermont’s Democratic establishment, will go up against Becca Balint, president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, who is backed by progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders. Minnesota will also hold a special election to to replace U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, R-Minn., who died in February at the age of 59 after a battle with kidney cancer.
Rudy Giuliani will not appear as scheduled Tuesday before a special grand jury in Atlanta that’s investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to interfere in the 2020 election in Georgia, his lawyer said. But Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, told The Associated Press Monday that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury, had excused Giuliani for the day. Nothing in publicly available documents indicates Giuliani is excused from appearing, but McBurney scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to hear arguments on a court filing from Giuliani seeking a delay. Giuliani’s legal team asked for the delay, saying he was unable to travel because of a medical procedure. That was rejected after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ team found evidence on social media that he had traveled since his procedure. A Giuliani attorney then clarified that Giuliani is not cleared for air travel, but Willis still refused to postpone, the motion says.
Taiwan’s foreign minister said Tuesday that China is using military drills to rehearse an invasion of the self-governing island democracy, while Taiwan’s military began its own live-fire exercises in a show of readiness to thwart off a potential attack. Joseph Wu said Beijing aims to establish its dominance in the Western Pacific and annex Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory. China says its drills were prompted by the visit to the island last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Wu said China was using her trip as a pretext for intimidating moves it has long had in the works. China said Monday it was extending military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic. China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said it would suspend or cancel dialogue with the U.S. on issues ranging from climate change to military relations and anti-drug efforts over what it called Pelosi’s “egregious provocations” in visiting Taiwan.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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