Donald Trump Jr says GOP no longer has to ‘bend the knee’ to Rupert Murdoch

Guo Wengui, the businessman and Chinese Communist party critic who fled to New York and allied himself with prominent China hawks, including Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, has been convicted for conducting a $1bn fraud on his online followers. 

In a unanimous verdict on Tuesday, Guo was found guilty of racketeering, fraud and money laundering charges by a Manhattan jury. He was acquitted on three other charges.

Damian Williams, US attorney, said Guo, once a social media personality, fleeced his “loyal followers out of their hard-earned money so that [he] could spend his days in his 50,000 square foot mansion, driving his $1mn Lamborghini, or lounging on his $37mn yacht”.