Biden news today: President touches down in California to assess storm damage as US hits debt ceiling

In a new campaign-style video address, former president Donald Trump bemoans what he sees as two standards of justice in the US — one for him and the general public, and one for the “corrupt political class”.

Mr Trump trotted out many of the gripes he has voiced about the investigation into the trove of classified documents recovered from his Palm Beach home (which he maintains is “ultra-secure” despite operating as a members club) and what he sees as the “white-glove” treatment of President Joe Biden after the discovery of a small number of documents at an office and in his garage (”which was probably very wet and damp as many garages are”).

The former president also criticised special counsel Jack Smith who is investigating on behalf of the “Injustice Department” claiming Mr Biden has weaponised the department against him.

If he returns to the White House he promises to end partisan investigations.

Richard Hall explains how Joe Biden faced a test of his pro-union claims in late 2022 — but did he fail it?

Joining President Joe Biden aboard Marine One for an aerial tour of impacted areas of California are: Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Alex Padilla, Administrator Deanne Criswell of FEMA, Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff, and Liz Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President & Homeland Security Advisor & Deputy National Security Advisor.

White House reporters are hitting dead ends when trying to establish if there was any national security risk from the classified documents found in the office formerly used by President Biden and at his Delaware home.

Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich tweets that both the White House and White House counsel referred her to the Department of Justice, where she was referred to the Special Counsel, which then declined to comment citing “longstanding practice”.

Josh Marcus reports on how the president has struggled to turn progressive stances on capital punishment, policing, and voting rights, into lasting actions.

A monthslong investigation by the Marshal of the Supreme Court has failed to determine who leaked a draft version of the court’s decision overturning Roe v Wade to Politico last year, the court said on Thursday.

In a statement, the court said the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization was “one of the worst breaches of trust in its history” and “a grave assault on the judicial process,” but the person who provided the draft to a pair of reporters for the Washington, DC-based publication has not yet been identified despite the Marshal’s best efforts.

Andrew Feinberg has the latest from Washington, DC.

President Joe Biden is likely to officially declare himself a candidate for reelection after he delivers his second State of the Union address in February, CBS and CNN reported citing sources familiar with his plans.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

To mark the second anniversary and halfway point of President Joe Biden’s term in office, The Independent takes an in-depth look at his time in the White House so far.

This special report looks at how Mr Biden, a Washington survivor, has managed to last so long in government, as one of the longest-serving senatorsm before becoming the oldest-ever president.

Josh Marcus introduces the series by showing how Mr Biden has changed over his five decades in national office as he went from backslapping, tough-on-crime Democrat to passionate speaker on global warming, racial equity, and abortion rights. These days, he usually manages to fall in the exact middle of a Democratic caucus ranging from socialists to coal boosters.