Former attorney general William Barr said that though president Donald Trump is morally responsible for the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, he is not “legally responsible” for the violence.

“I do think he was responsible in the broad sense of that word, in that it appears that part of the plan was to send this group to the Hill,” Mr Barr told NBC. “I think the whole idea was to intimidate Congress. And I think that that was wrong.”

He, however, added that he has not “seen anything to say (Trump) was legally responsible for it in terms of incitement.”

Two Republican senators have defended sharing photos of Volodymyr Zelensky during a Zoom call with lawmakers – despite being specifically asked not to amid fears for the Ukrainian president’s safety.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Montana Senator Steve Daines came under fire on Saturday when they both posted screen grabs of Mr Zelensky just minutes into the virtual meeting, where the president pleaded for the US for more help in defending Ukraine from Russia’s attack.

Officials at the Joint Base Andrews arrested one of the two intruders, one of them armed, who caused a security breach at the military base on Sunday shortly after vice president Kamala Harris and several cabinet members reached there.

“At approximately 9pm today, one vehicle drove through the security checkpoint and failed to adhere to commands of security personnel at the Main Gate on Joint Base Andrews, Maryland,” officials from the military base said in a statement.

Confirming the arrest of one of the intruders, officials said: “The 316 Security Forces Group immediately deployed the barriers and stopped the vehicle. Two individuals fled the vehicle, and one was apprehended by 316th SFG.”

Read the details in this report by Arpan Rai:

A local television anchor in Florida shut down Representative Matt Gaetz on Friday over his claims of electoral fraud during the 2020 presidential election.

“So you’re still maintaining the 2020 election was stolen? Are we still going with that?” WEAR ABC 3 anchor Bob Solarski asked the Republican on Friday, as their conversation was broadcast live.

“Listen,” Mr Gaetz replied. “I believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. I believe that he won the Electoral College.”
Mr Solarski, standing directly in front of the congressman, interrupted him.

“You can’t say that without saying there was a gigantic conspiracy across this country in supervisor of elections’ offices to make this happen, and we haven’t still seen any evidence that proves that,” he said.

Mr Gaetz responded that there was evidence of voter fraud, but “judges just didn’t have the courage to take it up”.

Donald Trump was recorded describing Vladimir Putin as his “friend” in a bizarre phone conversation with pro golfer John Daly.
“You know, he was a friend of mine,” the former president told the athlete on speaker phone, as recorded in a viral video. “I got along great with him.”

Mr Trump during the phone conversation repeated a claim that he’s made frequently in recent weeks: that if he were still president, Russia’s leader wouldn’t dare invade Ukraine.

“I’d say, ‘Vladimir, if you do it, we’re hitting Moscow,’” the one-term president bragged to Mr Daly. “I said, ‘We’re gonna hit Moscow.’ And he sort of believed me, like five per cent, 10 per cent. That’s all you need. He never did it during my time, John.”

Read the details in this report by Nathan Place:

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows may have committed voter fraud, according to a report by the New Yorker.

The outlet reported that it has dug up Mr Meadows’ voter registration form, and found that he registered to vote at a Scaly Mountain, North Carolina, address – a mobile home he’s never owned.

Musing the audience with a war between Russia and China, the former president Donald Trump said the US should “bomb the s*** out of Russia” with F-22 planes covered in Chinese flag and see the two nations go to war.

“And then we say, China did it, we didn’t do it, China did it and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch,” the former president said while musing the GOP donors in New Orleans on Saturday.

Read more in this report by Nathan Place :

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of US politics for Monday, 7 March 2022.