Trump fraud trial disrupted as court employee yells out to ‘help’ him - live
Donald Trump’s $250m civil fraud trial in New York was briefly disrupted when a woman, later identified as a court employee, walked toward the front of the courtroom yelling at the former president that she wanted to assist him.
Mr Trump returned to court this week, giving impromptu press conferences in the halls of the Lower Manhattan courthouse, and raised an objection from the New York Attorney General Letitia James’s team for talking during testimony.
He was originally believed to be heading back to court this week for a showdown with former “fixer” Michael Cohen. However, Cohen’s testimony has now been delayed due to a medical appointment.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a gag order stating that Mr Trump and others involved in the federal election interference case cannot make, post or share statements targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith, the court, court staff, and witnesses in the case. Specifically, the former president also can’t refer to Mr Smith as a “thug” or “deranged”.
Mr Trump’s legal team has filed a motion saying they intend to appeal the ruling with the former president calling it “unconstitutional”.
Key Points
New York court employee arrested after ‘yelling out’ for Trump during fraud trial
Yesterday: Donald Trump returns to his New York fraud trial after two gag orders
Trump files appeal to gag order imposed by judge in federal election interference trial
‘Sounds like a plan’: Trump trolled for saying he’s ‘willing to go to jail for sake of democracy’
Judge Chutkan grants in part special counsel request for Trump gag order
How does Melania Trump feel about the civil fraud trial?
Voices: Biden’s Israel trip and GOP chaos drowns out the Trump show – for now
Wednesday 18 October 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
On Wednesday morning, President Joe Biden arrived in Israel to express solidarity with the state after the deadly attack from Hamas. In addition, Mr Biden responded to an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza that provoked outrage by saying that US intelligence indicated the explosion was caused “by the other team.”
Meanwhile, back on American soil, the House of Representatives entered its third week without a speaker as Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH), the rightwing firebrand, failed to win enough votes to lead the lower chamber of Congress.
The split screen likely gives Mr Biden more than a small amount of glee, while many Americans see that his advanced age is not only a drawback. His 36 years as a US senator, particularly as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his eight years as vice president, also give him wisdom and experience in handling international crises. Meanwhile, Republicans can’t even corral 217 votes to elect a speaker despite having the majority.
But what is being broadcast is just as notable as what isn’t being broadcast: news stories about former president Donald Trump. This isn’t for a dearth of coverage. As is always the case with the four-times-indicted and twice-impeached former president, a flurry of headlines always follow Mr Trump.
Just in: Biden to address nation on Israel-Hamas war and Ukraine
Wednesday 18 October 2023 22:30 , Andrew Feinberg
President Joe Biden will deliver a major address on the ten day-old war between Israel and Hamas and Russia’s nearly two year-old war against Ukraine from the Oval Office on Thursday evening, the White House has said.
Biden to address nation on Israel-Hamas war and Ukraine
NY AG James calls Trump ‘performative’, says attacks can’t change what happens in court
Wednesday 18 October 2023 22:21 , Oliver O'Connell
New York Attorney General Letitia James mades a few remarks to the press on her way out of court.
Specifically she responded to Donald Trump’s insults: “He’s called me venomous, he’s called me disgraceful, he’s called me a radical, he’s called me a racist and this is only week three.”
“None of this, which can best be described as performative, can change what’s happening in the courtroom,” Ms James continued.
"And the evidence is clear, that he inflated his statements of financial [condition] to enrich himself and his family," she added. "And nothing will change that, not the attacks on me, or anyone."
Mar-A-Lago: ‘The most expensive house, probably, in the world’, according to Trump... but not Palm Beach
Wednesday 18 October 2023 21:55 , Oliver O'Connell
Bevan Hurley reports:
Donald Trump likes to toss around eye-watering sums when estimating the value of his Florida private club Mar-a-Lago — often in the same sentence.
“The house is worth a billion, a billion and a half, $750m,” Mr Trump said in meandering remarks outside his civil fraud trial in New York on Tuesday.
It was “the most expensive house, probably, in the world,” he added.
The true value of Mar-a-Lago has been a hotly contested subject ever since Mr Trump was ruled to have fraudulently inflated the value of his commercial and residential properties from New York to Florida in order to deceive banks and officials to claim favourable tax and insurance rates.
According to public Palm Beach property records, Mar-a-Lago was valued at $37m as of 1 January 2023, up from $31m a year before.
Continued...
Trump calls Mar-A-Lago ‘the most expensive house, probably, in the world’
How is Trump-backed Jim Jordan doing in his quest to become Speaker of the House?
Wednesday 18 October 2023 21:34 , Oliver O'Connell
Not great.
The next vote on the flailing speakership bid of Rep Jim Jordan has been pushed to tomorrow.
This comes as Mr Jordan is refusing to drop his speakership bid even after losing two votes on the floor of the House.
“We got 200 votes. We picked up some today, a couple of them dropped off but they voted for me before, I think they’ll come back again. So we’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” Mr Jordan told the press, according to Politico.
On Wednesday, 22 Republicans voted against Mr Jordan – up from 20 on Tuesday. Four members joined the anti-Jordan coalition, while two who voted against him in the first vote went back into the fold to support him.
While some Republicans switched to support Mr Jordan, the Ohio Republican lost the support of Reps Vern Buchanan of Florida, Drew Ferguson of Georgia, Marianette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, and Pete Stauber of Minnesota.
Some Republicans, led by Rep David Joyce of Ohio, have discussed potentially giving Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry more power so the House could resume deliberation to pass spending bills to avert a government shutdown.
Catch up with the latest here.
Trump on trial: Former president had concerns over rental data becoming public, court hears
Wednesday 18 October 2023 20:39 , Oliver O'Connell
Following the lunch break, Jack Weisselberg returned to the stand with NY AG’s counsel Colleen Faherty handling direct examination. Donald Trump returned to the courtroom and is sitting with his defence team.
Faherty asked about Mr Weisselberg’s commercial real estate job at Ladder Capital, and various types of loans they specialised in and he explained, noting that the company was involved in five loans to the Trump Organization for five different buildings.
Mr Weisselberg is asked about a loan concerning Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. He explains that in this transaction his point of contact with the Trump Organization was his father — emails are shown to the court from 2012 regarding it. The younger Mr Weisselberg told the court he understood that Mr Trump had to personally approve the Trump Tower loan before it went forward and that that was the case with all big loans involving the Trump Organization.
There is an objection from the attorney representing Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr concerning the line of questioning and she moved on to asking about Mr Weisselberg’s prior statements to the attorney general’s office.
Gucci was a major retail tenant at Trump Tower at the time and Mr Weisselberg said Mr Trump was nervous about what the Italian designer paid in rent becoming public. This would happen if the loan was sold on to investors in a securitisation.
“I recall it becoming public being a concern,” Mr Weisselberg said.
“I recall it becoming public being a concern,” Jack says.
— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) October 18, 2023
Moving on, Faherty asked about a bridge loan for Mr Trump around early 2017. Mr Weisselberg said the proceeds were needed to fund a $25m settlement, which resolved fraud claims over Trump University real estate seminars.
That settlement included $21m to go to some 7,000 former students and $4m to settle a separate case brought by a former New York Attorney General.
Court goes on its mid-afternoon break and the former president leaves for the day, saying he will be back tomorrow.
Jamie Raskin told God gave him cancer as punishment by ‘Maga American'
Wednesday 18 October 2023 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Democratic Rep Jamie Raskin had an unpleasant encounter with a MAGA supporter following the failed House speaker vote on Tuesday.
During a round of press interviews outside Congress, the Maryland congressman was approached by a man who allegedly described himself as a “Maga American”.
The man told Mr Raskin, who is battling lymphoma, that God had punished him by giving him cancer.
The man also allegedly told Mr Raskin he was on the “wrong side of history“ and should “repent,” before walking off.
Mr Raskin had a lighthearted response to the man’s remarks, telling a group of journalists: “Welcome to my world.”
Continued...
Maga supporter tells Jamie Raskin God gave him cancer as punishment
‘It’s funny’: Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social
Wednesday 18 October 2023 20:00 , Martha McHardy
The Biden campaign has taken its trolling of former president Donald Trump to the next level, by announcing that it has joined his Truth Social platform.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News on Monday that it plans to use its new Truth Social presence to combat misinformation – but also admitted it had joined Mr Trump’s social network site “mostly because we thought it would be very funny”.
They also said that President Joe Biden plans to “[meet] voters where they are” adding that: “Republicans can’t even agree on a speaker of the House, so clearly, not every Republican thinks the same.”
“We will be leveraging the fact that Republicans can sometimes be our best messengers,” the spokesperson added.
The first post from @BidenHQ read: “Well. Let’s see how this goes. Converts welcome!”
Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social because ‘it’s funny’
Full story: New York court employee arrested after ‘yelling out’ for Trump during fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 19:38 , Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward reports:
A woman identified as an employee of New York’s court system was arrested after approaching the front of a courtroom and calling out for Donald Trump during the 12th day of a civil trial alleging the former president and his business empire fraudulently inflated his net worth and assets for years.
The woman, whose name had not yet been released, “disrupted” the hearing on 18 October after approaching the front of the courtroom towards the defense table where Mr Trump was seated with his attorneys, according to a statement from a New York courts spokesperson.
She began “yelling out to Mr Trump indicating she wanted to assist him,” according to the statement.
New York state court officers escorted her out of New York Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron’s courtroom on the third floor of the building on Centre Street, and she was placed into a squad car on an adjoining street.
Continued...
New York court employee arrested after ‘yelling out’ for Trump during fraud trial
How does Melania Trump feel about the New York fraud trial?
Wednesday 18 October 2023 19:30 , Oliver O'Connell
No one’s heard directly from the former first lady, but her husband — the defendant — says she’s not amused by it and like him thinks it amounts to “election interference”.
Read the full story...
Trump reveals how Melania feels about his civil fraud trial
Update: Woman arrested at Trump New York fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 19:24 , Oliver O'Connell
The woman arrested at Donald Trump’s fraud trial in Lower Manhattan today walked up to the front of the gallery (not the bench as previously reported) and approached “the well” where the former president was seated.
She was stopped by court officers stationed there and directed back to her seat. Frank Runyeon of Law360 reports that several people heard her say she wanted to speak to Mr Trump. She was led away and seen being placed in a New York State police car.
**Clarification: She walked up to the front of the gallery, approaching "the well" where Trump was seated. She was stopped by court officers stationed there and directed back to her seat. Several people heard her say she wanted to speak to Trump. She was later led out.**
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) October 18, 2023
A statement from the court identified her as an employee who has now been placed on administrative leave.
Earlier today at the People of the State of NY vs. Trump civil trial taking place at 60 Centre Street, an individual disrupted the proceedings by standing up and walking towards the front of the courtroom and yelling out to Mr. Trump indicating she wanted to assist him. This individual was stopped by court officers before she got near Mr. Trump or any of the attorneys or other litigants. None of the parties were ever in any danger. The individual was safely escorted out of the courtroom and the courthouse by uniformed court officers and has been charged with Contempt of Court in the 2nd degree, i.e. disrupting a court proceeding.
Upon investigation, it has been determined that this individual is a court employee. The employee has been placed on immediate administrative leave pending investigation of the incident and prohibited from entering any UCS facility until further notice.
At this time we cannot offer any additional information about the employee.
Trump ‘willing to go to jail for sake of democracy’... isn’t that what his Jan 6 accusers have in mind?
Wednesday 18 October 2023 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump is being trolled after he said he would be “willing to go to jail” for the sake of democracy.
At a campaign event on Monday in Iowa, the former president told supporters: “I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ms Trump has been one of the former president’s most vocal critics, recently denouncing her “maniac” uncle for “likely” leaking Israeli intel to the Russians.
Meanwhile, blogger “John the Gnerphk” tweeted: “I’ll take him up on that in a heartbeat.”
Woman arrested after approaching bench at Trump New York fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 18:49 , Oliver O'Connell
A woman who approached the bench during Donald Trump’s fraud trial in Lower Manhattan today has been arrested and placed in a New York State police car. She reportedly asked to speak with the former president.
More details to follow...
VIDEO: Arrested woman who approached the front of the courtroom amid proceedings today in Donald Trump’s fraud trial. Officers would not immediately confirm the charge. pic.twitter.com/L5EtKLugKL
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) October 18, 2023
Wednesday 18 October 2023 18:40 , Oliver O'Connell
Reminder: Why there is no jury in Trump’s New York fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 18:20 , Alex Woodward
A trial stemming from a $250m lawsuit against Donald Trump, his adult sons, chief associates and his business empire is proceeding without a jury in a Manhattan courtroom.
Judge Arthur Engoron is presiding over the bench trial in New York Supreme Court after his stunning 35-page decision granting New York Attorney General Letitia James a partial judgment in her favour stemming from claims in her lawsuit, which alleges a decade of fraud that exaggerated the former president’s net worth by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The judge determined that a trial isn’t necessary to determine that Mr Trump’s financial statements were fraudulent, resolving a key allegation in the case, with six other so-called “causes of action” from the lawsuit left to be resolved.
Mr Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the judge, who has been baselessly accused of launching a political attack against the former president. But Mr Trump and his co-defendants could have avoided an outcome determined by Judge Engoron if their attorneys simply requested a jury.
The judge explained during the first day of the trial on 2 October that the case has no jury because neither side had “asked” for one.
Why Trump’s fraud trial doesn’t have a jury
Wednesday 18 October 2023 18:02 , Oliver O'Connell
Court breaks for lunch.
New witness: Jack Weisselberg, son of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg
Wednesday 18 October 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell
The next witness on the stand is Jack Weisselberg, the son of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg (who left his role after being convicted of tax fraud).
The younger Mr Weisselberg worked at Ladder Capital and got loans for his father’s company for its dealings concerning the 40 Wall Street skyscraper and to pay the settlement in the Trump University fraud case.
Direct examination is carried out by New York Attorney General counsel Colleen Faherty.
Wednesday 18 October 2023 17:41 , Oliver O'Connell
After quite a back-and-forth in the courtroom, Mr Larson finally steps down from the witness stand. The bone of contention appears to be over his initial work to appraise 40 Wall Street and the cap rate he provided the Trump Organization being used for valuations in subsequent years and by the company and whether he was aware of that or not.
He claimed that he was not aware but emails show he was in contact with Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney on at least one occasion. Mr Larson says he is unsure about the communications as they occurred a long time ago.
The Trump Organization statements of financial condition also appear to say that the valuations in question are not appraisals by Mr Larson, but are “based” on information he gave them and they then increased the cap rate figure provided.\
Larson reverses himself on this notation, noting the language does fall short of stating that it's Larson's valuation.
It claims to be "[b]ased" on information Larson provided, an interpretation the witness finds credible. pic.twitter.com/weyliiINb5— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 18, 2023
Mr Larson's testimony ends after a redirect from the NYAG's counsel in which earlier emails and comments are shown suggesting the witness has been consistent in his account.
Recap: Trump attorney accuses NYAG witness of lying on witness stand
Wednesday 18 October 2023 17:07 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump attorney Lazaro Fields accuses Doug Larson of lying on the witness stand, reports Stewart Bishop of Law360.
Yesterday, Mr Larson said he didn’t know that Trump Organization associates were listing him as an expert source in the company’s statements of financial condition, which the New York Attorney General says were fraudulent.
The questioning turned to whether Mr Larson in 2013 worked with Trump Organization controller and co-defendant Jeff McConney on a capitalisation rate that the company used to value Trump properties. Mr Larson said that despite being listed as an expert on the statements of financial condition he did not know that at the time.
Fields accused Mr Larson of committing perjury, he says that yesterday he testified that he didn’t work with McConney on capitalisation rates, but an email from that year indicates that he did.
“You lied yesterday Mr Larson,” Fields says.
“Did you work with Mr McConney in 2013 to determine the capitalisation rate he used to value the properties?” he asks.
Trump attorney Christopher Kise stands and says Mr Larson should be advised of his Fifth Amendment rights.
Judge Arthur Engoron asks a court officer to escort Mr Larson from the room while the lawyers discuss the issue.
The New York Attorney General counsel Colleen Faherty is not happy and says: “This is witness intimidation, your honour.”
Another lawyer describes it as a “performance”, adding: “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Kise responds: “It's not a performance, I take this very seriously.”
Judge Engoron responds: “Mr Kise... my role is to get the witness to testify. If he perjured himself yesterday or he perjured himself today, I don’t care. I just want him to testify.”
Mr Larson’s attorney asks to speak with him but Judge Engoron says no.
“Get the witness back here as soon as possible,” he says.
Trump on trial: Uproar in court over ‘witness intimidation’ as possible perjury accusation raised
Wednesday 18 October 2023 16:31 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump attorney Lazaro Fields asks witness Doug Larson: “You lied yesterday, didn’t you?!”
“I did not. That’s what I recall,” Mr Larson replies.
Frank Runyeon of Law360 reports the courtroom erupts as Trump attorney Christopher Kise says the witness was in jeopardy of perjury and New York Attorney General Counsel Colleen Faherty exclaims: “This is witness intimidation!”
A heated exchange followed with the NYAG’s team calling Kise’s comments “a performance” for the press.
Judge Arthur Engoron becomes impatient and says: “My role here is to get witnesses to testify. If he perjured himself yesterday or perjured himself today. I don’t care. I just want him to testify.”
With order restored, Fields shows notes by Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney saying that he and Mr Larson spoke, confirms that emails also show they did so, that the witness did share market data, and the company didn’t make it all up...
Now we're back to it. Fields is showing those notes by controller McConney saying they spoke and confirming that emails shows they *did* actually speak, he did share market data and that the Trump Org didn't make it all up.
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) October 18, 2023
Trump on trial: Judge calls for quiet during witness testimony after objection to audible frustration from Trump
Wednesday 18 October 2023 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Appraiser Doug Larson is back on the witness stand for cross-examination by Trump attorney Lazaro Fields.
Mr Larson, previously of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, is being questioned about his valuations of 40 Wall Street, a historic 72-storey storey skyscraper in Lower Manhattan.
Fields attempts to get Larson to admit his estimated valuations were incorrect by more than $100m but meets resistance with Larson asserting they are based on what they knew at the time they were made.
Frank Runyeon of Law360 reports from the courtroom that Donald Trump is not happy sitting at the defence bench with attorney Christopher Kise.
“He's telegraphing that as appraiser Doug Larson testifies — dropping his hands on the table, shaking his head and making sounds of frustration, talking to his attorneys.”
An objection is raised from the attorney general’s bench: “Can the defendant please stop commenting during the witness’s testimony."
Judge Arthur Engoron sustains the objection to the audible protests emanating from the former president, but without singling him out asks everyone to keep quiet, “particularly if it’s meant to influence the testimony”.
As Biden delivered remarks in Tel Aviv, Trump gave his from outside courtroom
Wednesday 18 October 2023 15:46 , Oliver O'Connell
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he would ask Congress for “unprecedented” amounts of aid to both Israel and the Palestinian people amid escalating violence following terror attacks by Hamas and a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital.
Mr Biden, who delivered remarks in Tel Aviv after a series of meetings with Israeli officials, first responders, and survivors of the 7 October attacks, urged both sides against being consumed by anger in an escalating cycle of violence and making mistakes similar to those that the US and its allies had made in the period following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
“You are a Jewish state. You are a Jewish state. But you’re also a democracy. Like the United States, you don’t live by the rules of terrorism. You live by the rule of law. When conflict is fair, you live by the rule of law of war,” said Mr Biden, who added that what sets the US and Israel “apart from the terrorists” is a belief “‘in the fundamental dignity of every human life”.
“You can’t give up what makes you who you are. If you give that up, then the terrorists win. And we can never let them win,” he said.
[Read Andrew Feinberg’s full report on the president’s remarks]
Meanwhile, in the halls of a courthouse in Lower Manhattan, four-times indicted former president Donald Trump gave his take on the escalating tensions in the Middle East — that it wouldn’t have happened if he were president.
Watch below:
Trump starts the day with a rant at United Autoworkers
Wednesday 18 October 2023 15:20 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump began his day on Truth Social with a rant at The United Autoworkers union saying that the auto industry is “DEAD” if they don’t vote for him.
The former president wrote:
The United Autoworkers have no choice. They are not being told the truth by their union “heads.” The Auto Industry is DEAD if they don’t VOTE FOR TRUMP. I will triple their jobs within two years, immediately authorizing CHOICE OF PROPULSION IN ALL CARS (and Trucks!). Car Choice, School Choice! Under the Biden Administration, there will be no such thing as a U.S. Autoworker within 3 years. All cars and trucks will be made in China, and other foreign lands!
Mr Trump skipped the second Republican Party primary debate in September ostensibly to attend a rally of striking auto workers after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced industrial action. However, local reporting found that not only was the venue a non-union plant, but very few of those present were auto workers:
Mr Trump visited Drake Enterprises, a non-unionized auto parts factory, on Wednesday night while seven of his rivals in the 2024 election faced off in California.
In a speech during his visit, Mr Trump claimed “thousands of people” had gathered to meet him in Michigan.
But the composition of the audience is now under scrutiny after a report by The Detroit News claimed one attendee holding a “union members for Trump” sign admitted that she is not in a union, while another holding an “auto workers for Trump” sign said he was not an auto worker.
The event drew a crowd of about 400-500 Trump supporters, according to The Detroit News, while Drake Enterprises only has around 150 employees.
United Auto Workers union leadership has said a second Trump term in office would be a “disaster” for workers.
Meanwhile, shortly before Mr Trump showed up to his rally in Detroit, President Joe Biden became the first sitting president to join a picket line. After the much-vaunted appearance, the UAW union leader says he saw no point in meeting with Mr Trump as he doesn’t care about workers and represents the billionaire class.
Watch Joe Biden join the UAW picket line and tell workers they deserve ‘significant raise’:
Biden tells striking auto workers they deserve ‘significant raise’
Trump back at Lower Manhattan courthouse for Day 12 of fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 15:19 , Oliver O'Connell
What to expect on Day 12 of Trump’s New York civil fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 15:07 , Oliver O'Connell
New York Attorney General Letitia James hopes to put three witnesses on the stand today in its fraud trial against what she has called Donald Trump’s “sinking” empire.
Doug Larson, the former Cushman & Wakefield appraiser now at Newmark, has already testified that he got far lower values for Trump properties than they claimed in their financial statements. He now faces cross-examination after he called the Trump Organization claims that he was consulted on their valuations in years when he was not “inappropriate and inaccurate”.
Following Mr Larson we expect to hear from Jack Weisselberg, the son of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg (who left his role after being convicted of tax fraud). The younger Mr Weisselberg worked at Ladder Capital and got loans for his father’s company for its dealings concerning the 40 Wall Street skyscraper and to pay the settlement in the Trump University fraud case.
If things run to schedule, we may also get testimony from David McArdle an appraiser with Cushman & Wakefield, who valued Mr Trump’s Westchester estate “Seven Springs” lower than was listed on the former president’s net worth statements.
Differing valuations of Mar-a-Lago fuelling Trump’s fury at case
Wednesday 18 October 2023 14:58 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump likes to toss around eye-watering sums when estimating the value of his Florida private club Mar-a-Lago — often in the same sentence.
“The house is worth a billion, a billion and a half, $750m,” Mr Trump said in meandering remarks outside his civil fraud trial in New York on Tuesday.
It was “the most expensive house, probably, in the world,” he added.
The true value of Mar-a-Lago has been a hotly contested subject ever since Mr Trump was ruled to have fraudulently inflated the value of his commercial and residential properties from New York to Florida in order to deceive banks and officials to claim favourable tax and insurance rates.
According to public Palm Beach property records, Mar-a-Lago was valued at $37m as of 1 January 2023, up from $31m a year before.
Bevan Hurley reports.
Trump claims Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.5bn. Palm Beach says it’s only worth $37m
Live feed at New York court as Trump expected to return for Day 12 of trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 14:51 , Oliver O'Connell
Yesterday in court: Trump returns to his civil fraud trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 14:42 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump returned to a Manhattan courtroom for the 11th day of a civil trial in a $250m lawsuit alleging widespread real-estate fraud in his business empire.
Just two weeks ago, the former president told reporters that he was “stuck” inside New York Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron’s courtroom, watching a trial he’s not obligated to attend, and complained that he couldn’t campaign because of it.
But it appears he plans to be “stuck” there once again this week.
Mr Trump’s fourth appearance at the trial on 17 October was expected to be a long-anticipated face-off between the former president and his former attorney Michael Cohen, a star witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James and her team. Cohen’s testimony was postponed due to a scheduling conflict with an unrelated medical issue.
In one of his several brief makeshift press conferences directly outside the courtroom, with news cameras and reporters positioned behind barricades flanking either side of a short hallway, Mr Trump said that his former attorney “didn’t have the guts” to appear.
Alex Woodward filed this report from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
Donald Trump returns to his New York fraud trial after two gag orders
Trump claims ‘total and complete victory’ as judge denies to classify ACN law suit as class action
Wednesday 18 October 2023 14:34 , Oliver O'Connell
In the midst of all of his other legal problems, former president Donald Trump has claimed a victory in one of the less well-known cases against him after a judge turned down a motion to classify it as a class action suit.
The case in question is a federal law suit filed against Mr Trump accusing him of fraud during his time as a pitchman for business services company ACN, which was featured on Celebrity Apprentice.
The suit was filed in 2018 and accused the real estate tycoon of repeatedly making false public claims about ACN and failing to disclose that he was paid millions of dollars to endorse the multilevel marketing company.
The plaintiffs in the suit say they signed up to sell ACN’s services and paid significant sums of money for the opportunity but saw virtually no income. ACN was not named as a defendant in the suit, but a nonprofit group critical of Mr Trump did seek documents from the company by subpoena.
Yesterday, a federal judge in Manhattan turned down a bid to certify a class action in the five-year-old suit against the former president. The ruling, from Obama appointee Judge Lorna Schofield, will likely sharply limit the amount of damages Mr Trump may have to pay.
The former president celebrated on Truth Social, posting: “Today we had a Total and Complete Victory against Far Left Lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, on her ridiculous ACN Class Action Suit, yet another Election Interference Case. It was ruled that there can be no Class Action, and Certification was denied!”
Ms Kaplan also represented E Jean Carroll in her litigation of the former president in which he was found liable for her sexual assault and defamation.
How does Melania feel about Trump’s fraud trial?
Wednesday 18 October 2023 14:25 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has revealed what former first lady Melania Trump allegedly thinks of his trial in New York in remarks during a break from proceedings in court this morning.
The former president is currently on trial for civil fraud charges brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Now, thanks to comments captured by videographer Kyle Mazza of News12 New Jersey, the former first lady’s apparent thoughts on the case are known.
Read more...
Trump reveals how Melania feels about his civil fraud trial
Fox News attorney claims network only settled Dominion lawsuit for one reason
Wednesday 18 October 2023 14:05 , Oliver O'Connell
The top lawyer for Fox News says the network paid $787m to settle the Dominion lawsuit to save “months of pain.”
Viet Dinh blasted the judge in the election defamation case brought by the voting technology company at a Harvard Law School event, reported CNN.
“We knew we were right in the law, (but) the trial judge put us in a situation increasingly where it was very obvious that we were not able to win the trial, but we were very confident we would prevail on appeal,” said Mr Dinh, Fox Corporation’s outgoing chief legal and policy officer, according to the news network.
He added: “As the judge compounded error upon error, we would get more and more confident in our ultimate chances of prevailing on appeal — because at some point, it became not just a matter of reversible error, it called into the fundamental fairness and integrity of the Delaware civil justice system.”
Rupert Murdoch settled the case brought by Dominion against Fox News and its parent company after hosts and guests repeatedly and falsely claimed on air that Dominion voting machines rigged the 2020 presidential election by recording Donald Trump’s votes for Joe Biden.
‘Sounds like a plan’: Trump trolled for saying he’s ‘willing to go to jail for sake of democracy’
Wednesday 18 October 2023 13:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump is being trolled after he said he would be “willing to go to jail” for the sake of democracy.
At a campaign event on Monday in Iowa, the former president told supporters: “I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again.”
Mr Trump is currently facing a number of criminal indictments, at both the federal level and in state cases in New York and Georgia.
One such indictment relates to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, for which he could receive a maximum sentence of 55 years.
Trump trolled for saying he’s ‘willing to go to jail for sake of democracy’
Trump’s fraud trial has no jury — what’s that about?
Wednesday 18 October 2023 13:15 , Alex Woodward
A trial stemming from a $250m lawsuit against Donald Trump, his adult sons, chief associates and his business empire is proceeding without a jury in a Manhattan courtroom.
Judge Arthur Engoron is presiding over the bench trial in New York Supreme Court after his stunning 35-page decision granting New York Attorney General Letitia James a partial judgment in her favour stemming from claims in her lawsuit, which alleges a decade of fraud that exaggerated the former president’s net worth by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The judge determined that a trial isn’t necessary to determine that Mr Trump’s financial statements were fraudulent, resolving a key allegation in the case, with six other so-called “causes of action” from the lawsuit left to be resolved.
Mr Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the judge, who has been baselessly accused of launching a political attack against the former president. But Mr Trump and his co-defendants could have avoided an outcome determined by Judge Engoron if their attorneys simply requested a jury.
The judge explained during the first day of the trial on 2 October that the case has no jury because neither side had “asked” for one.
Why Trump’s fraud trial doesn’t have a jury
‘It’s funny’: Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social
Wednesday 18 October 2023 12:45 , Martha McHardy
The Biden campaign has taken its trolling of former president Donald Trump to the next level, by announcing that it has joined his Truth Social platform.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News on Monday that it plans to use its new Truth Social presence to combat misinformation – but also admitted it had joined Mr Trump’s social network site “mostly because we thought it would be very funny”.
They also said that President Joe Biden plans to “[meet] voters where they are” adding that: “Republicans can’t even agree on a speaker of the House, so clearly, not every Republican thinks the same.”
“We will be leveraging the fact that Republicans can sometimes be our best messengers,” the spokesperson added.
Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social because ‘it’s funny’
Proud Boys member pleads guilty to Jan 6 obstruction charge
Wednesday 18 October 2023 12:15 , AP
A Proud Boys member who joined others from the far-right group in attacking the US Capitol pleaded guilty on Monday to obstructing the joint session of Congress for certifying Joe Biden‘s 2020 electoral victory.
William Chrestman, 49, of Kansas, also pleaded guilty to threatening to assault a federal officer during the riot at the Capitol on 6 January 2021.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly is scheduled to sentence Chrestman for his two felony convictions on 12 January. Estimated sentencing guidelines for his case recommended a prison term ranging from four years and three months to five years and three months.
Chrestman brought an axe handle, gas mask, helmet and other tactical gear when he travelled to Washington, DC, with other Proud Boys members from the Kansas City, Kansas, area, On Jan. 6, he marched to the Capitol grounds with dozens of other Proud Boys leaders, members and associates.
Full story: Judge issues partial gag order against Trump in federal Jan 6 case
Wednesday 18 October 2023 11:30 , Andrew Feinberg
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday imposed a partial gag order restricting Donald Trump’s ability to make “disparaging or “inflammatory” comments about people or entities involved in the election interference case pending against him in Washington DC, after a contentious hearing in which his attorneys repeatedly made political arguments in response to legal questions from the veteran jurist.
Judge Chutkan rejected arguments by Mr Trump’s attorneys who frequently cited his status a candidate for president — something she had called irrelevant to the proceedings on more than one occasion — and claimed putting any restrictions on what he can discuss as he campaigns would violate his right to free speech
She said that even though the defence had “sought to represent every statement as part and parcel of Mr. Trump’s first amendment right to argue that this prosecution is politically motivated,” the First Amendment protections cited by Mr Trump’s counsel most “yield to the administration of justice and the protection of witnesses” with a “narrowly-tailored order to protect those interests”.
“This is not about whether I like the language Mr Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice,” she added.
Judge issues partial gag order against Trump in federal Jan 6 case
Fulton County: Lawyers and judge hash out juror questions for Powell and Chesebro trial
Wednesday 18 October 2023 09:30 , AP
Defence attorneys and prosecutors sparred Monday over questions for potential jurors who have to report later this week for the trial of Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who are accused along with former President Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Lawyers for Powell and Chesebro met with prosecutors and the judge overseeing the case to hash out what will be asked on a lengthy questionnaire when the first group of 450 prospective jurors arrives at the courthouse on Friday. Whether that should include questions about their opinions about potential witnesses, the other defendants and issues that go to the heart of the case dominated that discussion.
Powell and Chesebro were indicted in Fulton County in August along with Trump and 16 others, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to keep Trump, the Republican incumbent, in the White House even though he had lost the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. All 19 defendants initially pleaded not guilty, but one pleaded guilty last month to five misdemeanour charges after reaching a deal with prosecutors. Trump and the remaining 15 will not be tried with Powell and Chesebro, and a trial date has not yet been set for them.
Lawyers and judge hash out juror questions for Powell and Chesebro trial in Georgia election case
Trump Iowa campaign learning from 2016 mistakes
Wednesday 18 October 2023 08:30 , AP
Trump isn’t downplaying expectations that he will win Iowa this time. His advisers want to lock in a blowout that discourages talk of a second-place finisher consolidating support and taking on the former president directly.
A traditional measure of campaign organization in Iowa is the caucus pledge card. People who attend Trump’s events are asked to sign a commitment that they will attend the caucuses and support him, providing their contact information so the campaign can inquire about them volunteering and finding others to attend.
After Trump’s second-place 2016 finish behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a ragtag effort of big crowds but little organization, state GOP staffers cleaned out his caucus campaign office to find thousands of signed pledge cards that had never been logged.
Settlement over Trump family separations at the border seeks to limit future repeats
Wednesday 18 October 2023 07:30 , AP
A settlement filed Monday in a long-running lawsuit over the Trump administration’s separation of parents and their children at the border bars the government from similar separations for eight years while also providing benefits like the ability for their parents to come to America and work, according to the Biden administration.
The settlement between the Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been representing families separated from their children, still has to be approved by the judge. But if finalized, it would make it much more difficult for any administration including former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, to revive one of his most controversial tactics to halt immigration at the southern border if he wins next year’s election.
“It is our intent to do whatever we can to make sure that the cruelty of the past is not repeated in the future. We set forth procedures through this settlement agreement to advance that effort,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told The Associated Press.
Settlement over Trump family separations at the border seeks to limit future separations for 8 years
Republicans ‘eat their young’, Trump bizarrely claims
Wednesday 18 October 2023 06:30 , Holly Hales
Donald Trump has claimed that his fellow Republicans “eat their young” in what marks his latest bizarre comments.
The former president posted a pre-recorded video on his Truth Social platform over the weekend, where he wildly appeared to compare himself to a baby eaten by its own parents.
“The Republicans eat their young, they really do, and it’s a terrible statement but it’s true,” he said.
“And that’s the problem with so many in our party; they just don’t have the loyalty and the strength to stick together.”
In the rambling clip, Mr Trump, 77, also called fellow Republicans Utah Senator Mitt Romney and Former House Speaker Paul Ryan “losers” and “RINOs”.
Trump bizarrely claims that Republicans ‘eat their young’
Trump wants ‘vindication’ over denied allegations of ‘perverted’ acts – court
Wednesday 18 October 2023 05:30 , AP
Donald Trump is seeking “a vindication” over denied allegations he took part in “perverted” sex acts and made bribes to Russian officials, the High Court has been told.
The former president of the United States, 77, is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence – a consultancy founded by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele – and is seeking compensation for distress.
Mr Steele, who previously ran the Secret Intelligence Service’s Russia desk, was the author of the so-called Steele dossier which included allegations Mr Trump had been “compromised” by the Russian security service, the FSB.
At the start of a two-day hearing on Monday, the High Court was told Mr Trump is bringing his case over two memos in the dossier which claimed the former president had taken part in “sex parties” while in St Petersburg and engaged in “golden showers” with prostitutes in Moscow.
Angry reaction to Israel remarks sees Trump make rare u-turn
Wednesday 18 October 2023 04:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump appears to be backpedalling his criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu following the attack on Israel after an angry reaction to his remarks at an event in Florida on Wednesday.
Just days after the sudden escalation of the conflict between Hamas and Israel resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries, the former president accused the Israeli Prime Minister of being unprepared and recalled he had allegedly failed to stand with the US during the latter part of his presidency.
He also called Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah “very smart”, further infuriating the White House, Israeli officials and his rivals for the Republican Party presidential nomination.
Mr Trump’s pledge of unwavering support for Israel earlier in the speech was drowned out by the pointed criticism of Mr Netanyahu and other his remarks — and the resulting furore.
Read more...
Trump backpedals Netanyahu criticism after angry reaction to Israel remarks
Eric Trump says his father sent him to work on construction sites as a child
Wednesday 18 October 2023 03:30 , Kelly Rissman
Eric Trump, the middle son of ex-President Donald Trump, told Senate hopeful Kari Lake that he had worked on construction sites as a child “making minimum wage” at the direction of his father.
“What kind of a dad was he?” the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate asked on “The Kari Lake Show”. “I can’t imagine you guys got away with a lot. Or, was he constantly telling you guys how to behave or was it pretty hands off?”
The former president’s son said his father was “strict,” had “high expectations of us,” and “made us work very very hard.”
“I was on construction sites when I was 11, 12 years old,” the younger Mr Trump continued, adding that he recalled “breaking down walls, sheetrock, plumbing.”
Eric Trump claims he worked on construction sites earning minimum wage at 11 or 12
Earlier: Forbes accuses Allen Weisselberg of lying under oath
Wednesday 18 October 2023 02:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been slammed by Forbes for his testimony in court from earlier this week, at Donald Trump’s New York fraud trial.
In an article published on Thursday (12 October), the ex-Trump employee is accused by the magazine of lying under oath when he took the stand this week.
His testimony was abruptly curtailed after lunch on Thursday and New York Attorney General Letitia James is now reportedly looking at the allegations.
The publication was referred to several times during Weisselberg’s testimony as part of the $250m civil fraud lawsuit brought against Donald Trump, his sons, his associates — including Weisselberg — and his company by the state of New York.
The defendants are charged with inflating Mr Trump’s net worth in order to get favourable financing terms from banks. They have all pleaded not guilty.
ICYMI: Israeli official hits back at Trump’s ‘shameful’ comments
Wednesday 18 October 2023 01:30 , Kelly Rissman
Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, has condemned former US president Donald Trump’s remarks in the wake of the Hamas terror attacks, which included the 2024 Republican frontrunner claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “let us down.”
Mr Karhi told Israel’s Channel 13 that it is “shameful that a man like that, a former US president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israel’s fighters and its citizens.”
“We don’t have to bother with him and the nonsense he spouts,” the communications minister said.
Israeli official hits back at Trump’s ‘shameful’ comments in wake of Hamas attack
White House slams ‘unhinged’ Trump over Hezbollah comments
Wednesday 18 October 2023 01:00 , Oliver O'Connell
The White House has condemned former president Donald Trump for calling the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah “very smart” in remarks on Thursday night in Florida.
His comments came less than a week after militant group Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Read the full story:
White House slams ‘unhinged’ Trump for calling Hezbollah ‘very smart’
Wednesday 18 October 2023 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Judge Arthur Engoron is hearing the current case without a jury. The suit was brought under a state law that doesn’t allow for one.
Trump has repeatedly criticized both the statute and the judge, a Democrat. The ex-president said Tuesday that he had come to like and respect Engoron but believed that Democrats were “pushing him around like a pinball.”
After Trump maligned a key court staffer on social media during the trial’s first days, the judge ordered him to delete the post and issued a limited gag order, warning participants in the case not to smear members of his staff.
In a pretrial decision last month, Engoron resolved the case’s top claim, ruling that Trump and his company committed years of fraud by exaggerating the value of his assets and net worth on his financial statements.
As punishment, Engoron ordered that a court-appointed receiver take control of some Trump companies, putting the future oversight of Trump Tower and other marquee properties in question. An appeals court has since blocked enforcement of that aspect of the ruling for now.
The trial concerns six remaining claims in the lawsuit, including allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
Wednesday 18 October 2023 00:15 , AP
Kidder, the Trump company accountant, provided a window into Trump Organization accounting practices.
She testified that as she filled out internal spreadsheets documenting the value of a Trump-owned Wall Street office building, longtime former Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg told her to act as if the skyscraper would be completely leased by a certain date, even if some space was currently vacant. For a Park Avenue residential tower, she was told to project that unsold units “would all sell out” in a certain timeframe.
Kidder said she wasn’t aware that those assumptions would be used to improve Trump’s bottom line on financial statements that helped his company make deals and get financing and insurance.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise objected to what he deemed “very granular” testimony from Kidder, who also alluded to a prior Trump tangle with New York state’s lawyers.
In explaining a spreadsheet, she noted an entry about a $12 million loan to pay a $25 million settlement of lawsuits from former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and others over the now-defunct Trump University real estate seminar program.
Wednesday 18 October 2023 00:00 , AP
Larson, a real estate brokerage executive and professional appraiser, assessed Trump properties for lenders. He was taken aback when told on the stand that he was repeatedly cited as an outside expert in former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney ’s valuation spreadsheets.
“It’s inappropriate and inaccurate,” Larson testified. “I should have been told, and an appraisal should have been ordered.”
When it came to valuing a storefront formerly known as Niketown, McConney relied on rates of return for a different type of property, rather than for comparable retail space, Larson testified. He also said he appraised a Trump-owned Wall Street building at $540 million in 2015, while McConney valued it at $735.4 million on Trump’s financial statement.
Outside court, Trump attorney Alina Habba suggested that appraisers’ valuations routinely come in lower than what owners believe their properties are worth.
Tuesday 17 October 2023 23:45 , AP
Trump, outside court, reiterated his insistence that he’s done nothing wrong and that New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit is a political vendetta designed to drag down his 2024 presidential campaign as he leads the Republican field.
“We built a great company — a lot of cash, it’s got a lot of great assets, some of the greatest real estate assets anywhere in the world,” Trump said outside the courtroom. He dismissed the case as “a disgrace,” the legal system as “corrupt” and the Democratic attorney general as a “radical lunatic.”
James’ lawsuit alleges that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and inflating his net worth on his financial statements. She also attended Tuesday but didn’t comment.
Trump says his assets were actually undervalued and maintains that disclaimers on his financial statements amounted to telling banks and other recipients not to accept his numbers but to check them out for themselves.
Tuesday 17 October 2023 23:30 , AP
Instead, Trump company accountant Donna Kidder testified that she was told to make some assumptions favorable to the firm on internal financial spreadsheets. Outside appraiser Doug Larson said he didn’t suggest or condone a former Trump Organization comptroller’s methods of valuing properties.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Larson said of the way the ex-controller reached a $287.6 million value for a prominent Trump-owned retail space in 2013.
Trump returns to civil fraud trial to hear testimony from employee and appraiser
Tuesday 17 October 2023 23:15 , AP
Donald Trump returned Tuesday to the civil fraud trial that imperils his real estate empire, watching and deploring the case as an employee and an outside appraiser testified that his company essentially put a thumb on the scale when sizing up his properties’ value.
Incensed by a case that disputes his net worth and could strip him of such signature holdings as Trump Tower, the former president is due to testify later in the trial. But he chose to attend the first three days and came back Tuesday to observe — and to protest his treatment to the news cameras waiting outside the Manhattan courtroom.
Star witness Michael Cohen, a onetime Trump fixer now turned foe, postponed his scheduled testimony because of a health problem.
Trump tells Colorado court he had no duty to ‘support’ the US Constitution
Tuesday 17 October 2023 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has sought to have a lawsuit filed against him in the state of Colorado dismissed, by arguing that, as president, he was not required to “support” the US Constitution.
The bizarre legal defence, put forward by the former president’s attorneys, comes in response to a suit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which seeks to have him disqualified from the ballot in the state under the 14th Amendment.
A clause of the amendment, which passed into the Constitution in 1868, bans those who “engaged in insurrection” against the United States from holding any civil, military, or elected office without the approval of two-thirds of the House and Senate.
Mr Trump’s lawyers are arguing that the phrasing of the clause – section three – does not apply to all officers of the United States, “but only those who take an oath ‘to support the US Constitution’”.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Donald Trump tells court he had no duty to ‘support’ the US Constitution
No further Speaker of the House votes tonight
Tuesday 17 October 2023 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell
There will be no further Speaker of the House votes today.
The House will meet tomorrow at 11am for another quorum call vote, nominating speeches and a second ballot for the election of the 56th Speaker of the House.
This will give Ohio Rep Jim Jordan more time to try and flip votes in his favour. There are currently 20 votes against him and he can only have three GOP lawmakers voting against him if he wants to win the speaker’s gavel.
NEW: NO VOTES for Speaker of the House tonight.
Jim Jordan tells our @jparkABC that the house will vote again TOMORROW at 11am.
20 Republicans didn’t support Jordan for speaker on today’s first ballot.— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) October 17, 2023
Voices: Jim Jordan’s failure shows the limits of ‘legislative terrorism’
Tuesday 17 October 2023 22:25 , Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes from Capitol Hill:
A Jordan victory would have symbolised the triumph of radical conservatives in the decade-long civil war they have waged against establishment Republicans – who, despite not necessarily being moderate, did understand the levers of governing – that began in 2010 during the Tea Party revolution. It would have been a sign that the institutionalists once again folded because they mistakenly believed if they incorporated the radicals into the fold, they would mature rather than see it as permission.
That, obviously, did not happen. Instead, a whopping 20 Republicans – some of them conservatives, others from swing districts and others institutionalists – revolted against Mr Jordan. After facing a week of badgering, aggressive lobbying and what some would call outright bullying, the coterie said “enough.” It revealed that while Mr Jordan has been quite deft at obstructing the levers of governing, he does not understand how to actually lead or win people to his side.
Read more...
Jim Jordan’s failure shows the limits of ‘legislative terrorism’
ICYMI: Trump wildly claims Biden may be on drugs in rambling speech
Tuesday 17 October 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump hit out at a “groggy” Joe Biden in yet another rambling speech, during which he appeared to accuse the president of taking drugs to stay awake while giving press conferences.
The former president once again compared his own mental capacity to that of Mr Biden, telling a crowd in Palm Beach, Florida, that he had no problem exiting the stage at his own events.
Read more...
Trump wildly claims Biden may be on drugs in rambling speech
How does Melania Trump feel about the civil fraud trial?
Tuesday 17 October 2023 21:43 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has revealed what former first lady Melania Trump thinks of his trial in New York in remarks during a break from proceedings in court this morning.
The former president is currently on trial for civil fraud charges brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Now, thanks to comments captured by videographer Kyle Mazza of News12 New Jersey, the former first lady’s apparent thoughts on the case are known.
Read on...
Trump reveals how Melania feels about his civil fraud trial
Cross-examination of Larson continues
Tuesday 17 October 2023 21:23 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump attorney Lazaro Fields asks Mr Larson about why Cushman & Wakefield came up with two different numbers for the 2012 appraisal, $200 million and $220 million.
Mr Larson responds that there might have been adjustments, and he doesn’t recall which one was the final number.
“Can you testify [as to which one] is the correct or final appraisal for this year?” Fields asks.
“No, not sitting here, I cannot,” Mr Larson says.
Fields, who is also representing the former president in the federal classified documents case, is also running for the Florida House to succeed Republican Rep Ralph Massullo in House District 23 vowing to fight “leftist woke ideology”.
Fox News attorney explains why network settled Dominion lawsuit
Tuesday 17 October 2023 21:05 , Oliver O'Connell
The top lawyer for Fox News says the network paid $787m to settle the Dominion lawsuit to save “months of pain.”
Viet Dinh blasted the judge in the election defamation case brought by the voting technology company at a Harvard Law School event, reported CNN.
“We knew we were right in the law, (but) the trial judge put us in a situation increasingly where it was very obvious that we were not able to win the trial, but we were very confident we would prevail on appeal,” said Mr Dinh, Fox Corporation’s outgoing chief legal and policy officer, according to the news network.
He added: “As the judge compounded error upon error, we would get more and more confident in our ultimate chances of prevailing on appeal — because at some point, it became not just a matter of reversible error, it called into the fundamental fairness and integrity of the Delaware civil justice system.”
Graeme Massie has the full story:
Fox News only settled Dominion lawsuit to avoid ‘months of utter pain’, attorney says
Trump appears to have left court for day
Tuesday 17 October 2023 20:51 , Oliver O'Connell
After a mid-afternoon break in the trial, Donald Trump appears to have left for the day, Alex Woodward reports from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
The former president is not obligated to be in court (despite previously insisting he was “stuck” there) and can come and go as he pleases.
Mr Trump is scheduled to give a deposition under oath late today also in New York for a lawsuit related to his time as president and the termination of Russia investigation-connected FBI official Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, whose attorneys will question him.
Trump files appeal to gag order imposed by judge in federal election interference trial
Tuesday 17 October 2023 20:38 , Oliver O'Connell
Lawyers for Donald Trump have filed an appeal against Judge Tanya Chutkan’s imposition of a partial gag order on the former president ahead of his federal trial for election interference in the lead-up to the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021.
Here Alex Woodward reports on the judge’s order:
Judge issues partial gag order against Trump in federal Jan 6 case
Are appraisals an art or a science?
Tuesday 17 October 2023 20:06 , Alex Woodward
Trump’s attorney asks whether Larson agrees that “appraisals are an art, not a science”.
Larson gives a textbook definition: “It’s an estimate of market value, by an appraiser, based on experience, knowledge of the market, and the best estimate at the time they were doing the appraisal.
Trump is trying to show his attorneys some paperwork. Lots of chatter on the Trump side.
Watch: Trump speaks at press in lunch break
Tuesday 17 October 2023 20:05 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump had a few words for the press during the break. pic.twitter.com/zdO33tomBb
— Stewart Bishop (@stewartbishop) October 17, 2023
Protesters briefly disrupt Amy Coney Barrett event
Tuesday 17 October 2023 19:50 , Graig Graziosi
Demonstrators briefly disrupted an event in which Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett admitted that ethics rules for the nation’s highest court are needed.
The Supreme Court justice made the comments during a visit to the University of Minnesota Law School, where she participated in a moderated discussion with Professor Robert Stein, according to the New York Times.
“It would be a good idea for us to do it, particularly so that we can communicate to the public exactly what it is that we are doing in a clearer way,” she said, adding that “all nine justices are very committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct.”
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas faced severe scrutiny after it was revealed he had accepted lavish trips from and sold allegedly overpriced property to his billionaire friend Harlan Crow.
Likewise, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito received blowback after it was revealed that the flew around on hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer’s private jet. Mr Singer regularly had business that ended up in the court.
Continued...
Protesters disrupt Amy Coney Barrett event as justice calls for ethics rules
Tuesday 17 October 2023 19:40 , Oliver O'Connell
Tuesday 17 October 2023 19:36 , Alex Woodward
Judge Engoron jumps in again after objections from James’s team over the “tiresome” line of questioning.
“We all know what an appraisal is,” the judge said. “The term value, valuations, is much looser. … I think that kind of sums it up. I don’t know what else there is to say.”
Trump attorney Christopher Kise jumps in: “The problem is the witness won’t say it for whatever reason.”
Mr Larson, asked again about the difference basically repeated what the judge had just said.
Not sure we got anywhere with all that.
Court resumes after lunch
Tuesday 17 October 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial has resumed after lunch with the former president’s attorney cross-examining Doug Larson, formerly of Cushman & Wakefield.
Mr Trump has perked up for the first time today, staring at Larson. Trump’s attorney is splitting hairs to try to make the point that appraisals are not the same thing as valuations. “They are the same thing,” Larson said.
Larson is thrown off from the questions to try to explain why they are different, with one often being used in place of the other.
“An appraisal is a very detailed, organised… appraisal,” he said. “Sometimes the terms are used loosely together … Unless you’re a certified appraiser, it would not be … a formal appraisal.”
Judge Engoron jumps in. “They’re interchangeable, but they’re also different,” he said. “I mean look, the term valuation can mean appraisal … I don’t know if I’d totally agree with the premise of your question.”
Team Trump is trying to undermine Larson’s testimony and evidence that appeared to show the Trump Organization making up their own “valuations”.
Trump’s attorney asked Larson if he agreed that “there is nothing illegal or unethical” about a property owner doing that.
Watch: Trump says he is 'willing to go to jail for sake of democracy'
Tuesday 17 October 2023 19:20 , Oliver O'Connell
Breaking: Jordan loses first vote to become House speaker as GOP chaos deepens
Tuesday 17 October 2023 18:50 , Eric Garcia
The US House of Representatives failed to vote on a speaker after multiple Republicans voted against Rep Jim Jordan, despite the overwhelming majority of the House GOP conference voting to make him speaker.
The vote against Mr Jordan comes as the House marks two weeks since Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to vacate, which led to seven other Republicans and every Democratic representative present to depose former speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Mr Jordan’s nomination came after House Majority Steve Scalise removed himself from the running despite the fact he beat Mr Jordan in an internal vote within the GOP conference. Mr Jordan had worked to win over many skeptics within his party and successfully flipped many of them.
Full story:
Jim Jordan loses first vote to become House speaker as GOP chaos deepens
In bizarre legal defence, Trump tells Colorado court he had no duty to ‘support’ the US Constitution
Tuesday 17 October 2023 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has sought to have a lawsuit filed against him in the state of Colorado dismissed, by arguing that, as president, he was not required to “support” the US Constitution.
The bizarre legal defence, put forward by the former president’s attorneys, comes in response to a suit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which seeks to have him disqualified from the ballot in the state under the 14th Amendment.
A clause of the amendment, which passed into the Constitution in 1868, bans those who “engaged in insurrection” against the United States from holding any civil, military, or elected office without the approval of two-thirds of the House and Senate.
Mr Trump’s lawyers are arguing that the phrasing of the clause – section three – does not apply to all officers of the United States, “but only those who take an oath ‘to support the US Constitution’”.
Mike Bedigan has more details.
Donald Trump tells court he had no duty to ‘support’ the US Constitution
Trump is under a partial gag order at NY trial — what does that mean?
Tuesday 17 October 2023 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump was hit with a gag order by the judge in his civil fraud trial in New York after just a day and a half into a trial that is scheduled to run until almost Christmas.
But what is a gag order and what are the potential repercussions for Mr Trump in this trial and in the myriad of legal proceedings he faces in the coming months?
What is a gag order and what does it mean for Trump?
Appraiser says ‘inappropriate’ for Trump Organization to use him valuations source years after fact
Tuesday 17 October 2023 17:35 , Alex Woodward
Doug Larson, formerly of commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, testified that he did not know how the Trump Organization arrived at the cap rate math for Niketown, the retail property attached to Trump Tower, that appeared to be based on a conversation he had with company executives years earlier.
“As a professional appraiser, would you use information that you received from 2013 to value an office building in Manhattan four years later?” counsel for New York Attorney General Letitia James asked.
“The answer is no,” he said.
He said he was “not aware” in 2018 that the Trump Organization was saying that they were relying on him. By then, he had already left the Cushman firm.
“It’s inappropriate,” he said. “I should’ve been told.”
The attorney general’s office is citing several examples of this, with the Trump Organization citing Mr Larson as a single source for claims that appear to have been made up without him. It appears prosecutors are suggesting that the company leveraged his title as a certified appraiser to give documents the appearance of legitimacy.
Trump’s attorneys are not happy about the line of questioning.
Read Trump’s DC trial gag order in full
Tuesday 17 October 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell
US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has released her written opinion imposing a limited gag order on Donald Trump ahead of his federal election interference trial, scheduled for 4 March 2024.
In order to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings, it is necessary to impose certain restrictions on public statements by interested parties. Undisputed testimony cited by the government demonstrates that when Defendant has publicly attacked individuals, including on matters related to this case, those individuals are consequently threatened and harassed.
Since his indictment, and even after the government filed the instant motion, Defendant has continued to make similar statements attacking individuals involved in the judicial process, including potential witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff. Defendant has made those statements to national audiences using language communicating not merely that he believes the process to be illegitimate, but also that particular individuals involved in it are liars, or “thugs,” or deserve death. Id.
The court finds that such statements pose a significant and immediate risk that (1) witnesses will be intimidated or otherwise unduly influenced by the prospect of being themselves targeted for harassment or threats; and (2) attorneys, public servants, and other court staff will themselves become targets for threats and harassment. And that risk is largely irreversible in the age of the Internet; once an individual is publicly targeted, even revoking the offending statement may not abate the subsequent threats, harassment, or other intimidating effects during the pretrial as well as trial stages of this case.
Court hears more about 40 Wall St’s valuation and cap rates
Tuesday 17 October 2023 17:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Mark Ladov of the NY AG’s office is questioning Mr Larson about an appraisal report of 40 Wall Street, which reflects the value of the building as of 1 June 2013.
According to the AG’s complaint, the Trump Organization valued 40 Wall Street at $530m in 2013, more than twice what others in the industry thought it was worth.
Discussion turns to the methods of valuing real estate (cap rates as the court heard last week).
Watch: Speaking to media, Trump claims ‘my speech has been taken away from me’ by DC court
Tuesday 17 October 2023 16:45 , Oliver O'Connell
“My speech has been taken away from me. I'm a candidate that's running for office and I'm not allowed to speak. This is a railroad and it's all coming out of the Department of Justice.”
— Donald Trump complains about the partial gag order in his January 6th case in D.C. pic.twitter.com/fHVMGtYpHQ— The Recount (@therecount) October 17, 2023
Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social
Tuesday 17 October 2023 16:35 , Oliver O'Connell
The Biden campaign has taken its trolling of former president Donald Trump to the next level, by announcing that it has joined his Truth Social platform.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News on Monday that it plans to use its new Truth Social presence to combat misinformation – but also admitted it had joined Mr Trump’s social network site “mostly because we thought it would be very funny”.
They also said that President Joe Biden plans to “[meet] voters where they are” adding that: “Republicans can’t even agree on a speaker of the House, so clearly, not every Republican thinks the same.”
“We will be leveraging the fact that Republicans can sometimes be our best messengers,” the spokesperson added.
Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social because ‘it’s funny’
New Witness: Doug Larson
Tuesday 17 October 2023 16:29 , Oliver O'Connell
The next witness to take the stand is Doug Larson, formerly of the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Judge Arthur Engoron had previously held the firm in contempt after it failed to hand over documents subpoenaed by Ms James’s office, leading to a $10,000 fine.
Mr Larson currently works at commercial real estate advisory and services firm Newmark as an executive vice president. He handles valuations and appraisals.
Ivanka Trump’s penthouse shows more creative accountancy and valuations
Tuesday 17 October 2023 16:12 , Oliver O'Connell
Donna Kidder testified that she tracked all financial arrangements for Ivanka Trump.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’s team pulls up an email and attachment from the former president’s daughter from March 2012.
Ms Kidder said she was responsible for such documents from “2010 through June of a couple of years ago”.
(NB: Ivanka is no longer a party in the lawsuit after a court tossed out the claims against her because NY AG James missed a filing deadline. Ivanka stepped down from the Trump Organization in 2016.)
Nevertheless, questioning turns to Ivanka’s penthouse at Trump Park Avenue.
Ms Kidder examines an email from 2014 when Ivanka surrendered an option to buy one of the penthouses and was given the option to buy another for $14,264,000.
Below is the NY AG’s summary of the allegations surrounding the valuation of the penthouse via Adam Klasfeld at The Messenger. Essentially, Ivanka was twice given the option to purchase two penthouses that were then valued at two and a half to three times as much as she could buy them.
Questioning turns to Ivanka Trump's penthouse in Trump Park Avenue.
Kidder examines an email from 2014, when Ivanka Trump surrendered an option to buy one of the penthouses and was given an option to buy another for $14,264,000.
Pictured: NYAG's summary of allegations. pic.twitter.com/zGOJXJlO8r— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 17, 2023
Trump complains about no jury at New York trial — here’s why that is...
Tuesday 17 October 2023 15:45 , Alex Woodward
A trial stemming from a $250m lawsuit against Donald Trump, his adult sons, chief associates and his business empire is proceeding without a jury in a Manhattan courtroom.
Judge Arthur Engoron is presiding over the bench trial in New York Supreme Court after his stunning 35-page decision granting New York Attorney General Letitia James a partial judgment in her favour stemming from claims in her lawsuit, which alleges a decade of fraud that exaggerated the former president’s net worth by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The judge determined that a trial isn’t necessary to determine that Mr Trump’s financial statements were fraudulent, resolving a key allegation in the case, with six other so-called “causes of action” from the lawsuit left to be resolved.
Mr Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the judge, who has been baselessly accused of launching a political attack against the former president. But Mr Trump and his co-defendants could have avoided an outcome determined by Judge Engoron if their attorneys simply requested a jury.
Read more...
Why Trump’s fraud trial doesn’t have a jury
Witness reiterates Weisselberg had final say on financial statements
Tuesday 17 October 2023 15:40 , Oliver O'Connell
We’re hearing continued testimony from Trump Organization employee Donna Kidder, who has repeatedly indicated that convicted former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg had the last word on financial documents shared with banks, insurers and others.
“Everything would have to have been reviewed by Allen Weisselberg before it went to a third party,” she said.
Counsel for Letitia James’s team is clinically going through several documents and email attachments that Weisselberg signed off on.
Watch: Trump rails against ‘lunatic’ and claims Mar-a-Lago ‘most expensive house, definitely, in the world’
Tuesday 17 October 2023 15:33 , Oliver O'Connell
Amongst all of his legal woes, the valuation of Mar-a-Lago really seems to have got to the former president...
Trump, back at court in NYC this morning, viciously attacks AG James, who he describes at "ranting and raving like a lunatic." He also claims Mar-a-Lago is "the most expensive house, probably, in the world" and adds that it's worth as much as $1.5 billion. pic.twitter.com/4azPwKpBXR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2023
Who is on the stand today at Trump’s New York fraud trial?
Tuesday 17 October 2023 15:15 , Oliver O'Connell
Today in Donald Trump’s $250m civil fraud trial, the court will continue to hear testimony from Trump Organization accountant Donna Kidder, who worked on Trump’s annual statements of financial condition, which New York Attorney General Letitia James says were fraudulent and used to get financing from banks.
Also expected to take the stand today is Doug Larson, a former executive of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, who did appraisals of 40 Wall Street, a 72-storey skyscraper in Manhattan’s financial district.
Mr Trump is accused of inflating his wealth through overvaluing real estate assets such as 40 Wall St.
Trump arrives in court
Tuesday 17 October 2023 15:02 , Alex Woodward
Trump has arrived in court in his dark blue suit and red tie combo. He was led by attorney Christopher Kise with Alina Habba behind him. Eric Trump is once again in court with him, seated on the left of the courtroom in the first row.
The scene in court as trial awaits arrival of Trump
Tuesday 17 October 2023 14:55 , Alex Woodward
Just two weeks ago, Donald Trump told reporters he was “stuck” inside a Manhattan courtroom and complained that couldn’t campaign because of it. He’s under no obligation to appear in person at a trial stemming from a sweeping civil case alleging his business empire and chief associates committed years of fraud, and it appears he will be “stuck” here once again this week.
The former president is expected to return to Judge Arthur Engoron’s courtroom inside the New York Superior Court on Tuesday and could attend days-long hearings throughout the week.
The appearances were nearly a long-anticipated face-off between Mr Trump and his former attorney Michael Cohen, who was due to appear as a star witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James and her team. Cohen’s testimony was postponed until likely next week due to a scheduling conflict with an unrelated medical issue.
Ms James entered the courtroom at 9.30am on Tuesday and took her seat in the first row behind her team. She smiled, briefly waved and said “good morning” to the room as she walked to her seat.
The courthouse on Centre Street was once again surrounded by police and news cameras, though there were far more open seats inside the courtroom compared to Mr Trump’s first three days attending the trial in its first week.
That week, the judge hit with him a gag order from the bench, delivered feet away from the former president, after Mr Trump made a series of false claims about the judge’s chief clerk on his Truth Social and in the hallway steps from the courtroom.
Yesterday, a federal judge issued another partial gag order against him ahead of a trial surrounding his alleged criminal conspiracy and obstruction to subvert 2020 presidential election results.
His return to the courtroom comes one day after a bombshell exchange on the witness stand after three days of testimony from a Trump Organization executive.
The company’s assistant vice president Patrick Birney confirmed that convicted former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg told him that the former president wanted to inflate his worth on his statements of financial condition, the allegedly fraudulent documents at the centre of the case.
“Did Allen Weisselberg ever tell you that Donald Trump wanted his net worth on his statement of financial condition to go up?” counsel Eric Haren asked.
“Yes,” Mr Birney replied.
His testimony followed two weeks of arguments from Ms James’s team and witness testimony intended to show that Mr Trump and his company chiefs were integral to their attempts to fraudulently inflate the value of his assets on financial statements provided to banks and insurers.
‘Some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met’
Tuesday 17 October 2023 14:48 , Oliver O'Connell
After praising Hezbollah, Putin, and Xi, Trump just mocked the US military leadership:
“Some of the dumbest people I've ever met in my life"
A true patriot will never support traitor Trump.
pic.twitter.com/nB7eCx5pGF— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 16, 2023
Donald Trump called US military officials “some of the dumbest people” he’s ever met during a campaign event in Iowa and has a record of praising Hezbollah, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping.
And yet he still wants to be Commander-in-Chief again?
Martha McHardy reports.
Trump calls military officials ‘some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met’
‘Sounds like a plan’: Trump trolled for saying he’s ‘willing to go to jail for sake of democracy’
Tuesday 17 October 2023 14:38 , Martha McHardy
Donald Trump is being trolled after he said he would be “willing to go to jail” for the sake of democracy.
At a campaign event on Monday in Iowa, the former president told supporters: “I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again.”
Mr Trump is currently facing a number of criminal indictments, at both the federal level and in state cases in New York and Georgia.
One such indictment relates to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, for which he could receive a maximum sentence of 55 years.
Mr Trump is accused of conspiring to defraud the United States by preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory and conspiring to deprive voters of their right to a fair election.
Trump trolled for saying he’s ‘willing to go to jail for sake of democracy’
Trump readies himself for court
Tuesday 17 October 2023 14:24 , Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump will be in court in Lower Manhattan this morning and wants everyone to know what he thinks about it...
Here’s what he posted on Truth Social earlier:
I will be attending the trial in Manhattan this morning. I greatly appreciate all of the legal professors and scholars that are saying I DID NOTHING WRONG. I can’t have a JURY and am being viciously tried under a Statute that has never been used before. The Radical Left Democrat Judge, WHO IS HIGHLY POLITICAL, serves as Judge, Jury, and everything else. America cannot let this happen. Our legal system is corrupt and broken! Everything emanates from Washington, “GET TRUMP.”
Full story: Judge issues partial gag order against Trump in federal Jan 6 case
Tuesday 17 October 2023 14:00 , Oliver O'Connell
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday imposed a partial gag order restricting Donald Trump’s ability to make “disparaging or “inflammatory” comments about people or entities involved in the election interference case pending against him in Washington DC, after a contentious hearing in which his attorneys repeatedly made political arguments in response to legal questions from the veteran jurist.
Judge Chutkan rejected arguments by Mr Trump’s attorneys who frequently cited his status a candidate for president — something she had called irrelevant to the proceedings on more than one occasion — and claimed putting any restrictions on what he can discuss as he campaigns would violate his right to free speech
She said that even though the defence had “sought to represent every statement as part and parcel of Mr. Trump’s first amendment right to argue that this prosecution is politically motivated,” the First Amendment protections cited by Mr Trump’s counsel most “yield to the administration of justice and the protection of witnesses” with a “narrowly-tailored order to protect those interests”.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.
Judge issues partial gag order against Trump in federal Jan 6 case
Lawyers and judge hash out juror questions for Powell and Chesebro trial in Georgia election case
Tuesday 17 October 2023 13:30 , AP
Defence attorneys and prosecutors sparred Monday over questions for potential jurors who have to report later this week for the trial of Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who are accused along with former President Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Lawyers for Powell and Chesebro met with prosecutors and the judge overseeing the case to hash out what will be asked on a lengthy questionnaire when the first group of 450 prospective jurors arrives at the courthouse on Friday. Whether that should include questions about their opinions about potential witnesses, the other defendants and issues that go to the heart of the case dominated that discussion.
Trump calls military officials 'some of the dumbest people I've ever met'
Tuesday 17 October 2023 13:15 , Rachel Sharp
Trump in Iowa describes military officials as "some of the dumbest people I've ever met in my life" -- and gets big applause for it pic.twitter.com/UmbQQAxJwQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2023
Watch: Trump calls military officials ‘some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met in my life'
Tuesday 17 October 2023 12:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump in Iowa describes military officials as "some of the dumbest people I've ever met in my life" -- and gets big applause for it pic.twitter.com/UmbQQAxJwQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2023
Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social because ‘it’s funny’
Tuesday 17 October 2023 12:15 , Rachel Sharp
The Biden campaign has taken its trolling of former president Donald Trump to the next level, by announcing that it has joined his Truth Social platform.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told Fox News on Monday that it plans to use its new Truth Social presence to combat misinformation – but also admitted it had joined Mr Trump’s social network site “mostly because we thought it would be very funny”.
They also said that President Joe Biden plans to “[meet] voters where they are” adding that: “Republicans can’t even agree on a speaker of the House, so clearly, not every Republican thinks the same.”
Read the full story here:
Biden trolls Trump by joining Truth Social because ‘it’s funny’
Profile: Jim Jordan — conservative hellraiser and Trump’s pick for GOP speaker
Tuesday 17 October 2023 11:45 , Eric Garcia
Early in the morning of 6 October, former president Donald Trump threw his support behind Rep Jim Jordan in the race to become speaker of the House. The endorsement was not entirely surprising given Mr Jordan, an Ohio congressman, occupied the same lane in the House of Representatives that Mr Trump has as a presidential candidate and president – as an expression of conservatives who were dissatisfied with Republican leadership and a candidate who channelled their rage.
Following the failure of Majority Leader Steve Scalise to get the backing he needed for vote on the floor of the House, the focus has now returned to Mr Jordan, who was the only challenger to Mr Scalise in the first internal GOP vote on who should be the next speaker. Mr Scalise won that vote 113 to Mr Jordan’s 99.
A product of the Tea Party wave and founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Mr Jordan’s tenure in the House led to the ouster of former speaker John Boehner, which set the stage for Kevin McCarthy’s downfall earlier this month, despite his steadfast support for the speaker.
Who is Jim Jordan, the conservative hellraiser and Donald Trump’s choice for speaker
Trump vows to expand Muslim travel ban to refugees from Gaza
Tuesday 17 October 2023 11:15 , Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump has vowed to expand his Muslim travel ban to bar refugees from war-torn Gaza if he takes back the White House in 2024.
Speaking to supporters at a rally in Iowa on Monday night, the former president said that he would introduce “ideological screening” for all immigrants and refuse entry to the thousands of Palestinian people now displaced by the Israel-Hamas war.
“We aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security,” Mr Trump said at the event.
“I banned refugees from Syria, I banned refugees from Somalia – very dangerous places – and from all of the most dangerous places all over the world, I banned them.”
Read more...
Trump vows to expand Muslim travel ban to refugees from Gaza
Trump’s Iowa campaign ramps up its organising to avoid repeat of 2016
Tuesday 17 October 2023 10:45 , AP
By the time Donald Trump returns to Iowa on Monday, the Republican former president will have drawn more than 10,000 people to his events in the state in less than a month.
There’s no guarantee his crowds will translate to support in the state’s Jan. 15 caucuses, which will launch the 2024 nominating cycle. But unlike his seat-of-the-pants campaign in 2016, he has a more sophisticated organization to capitalize on his high-wattage events and often emphasizes in his remarks how to participate in the caucuses.
Trump isn’t downplaying expectations that he will win Iowa this time. His advisers want to lock in a blowout that discourages talk of a second-place finisher consolidating support and taking on the former president directly.
A traditional measure of campaign organization in Iowa is the caucus pledge card. People who attend Trump’s events are asked to sign a commitment that they will attend the caucuses and support him, providing their contact information so the campaign can inquire about them volunteering and finding others to attend.
Trump vows to fight gag order in Jan 6 case
Tuesday 17 October 2023 10:15 , Rachel Sharp
Donald Trump has vowed to fight a gag order in the federal criminal case charging him with his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
On Monday, the judge overseeing the case imposed a partial gag order muzzling some of what the former president can say about his upcoming trial.
Special Counsel Jack Smith asked for Mr Trump to be placed under a gag order because of his “continued use of social media as a weapon of intimidation in court proceedings”.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed, ruling that Mr Trump and others in the case cannot make, post or share statements targeting Mr Smith, the court, court staff, and witnesses in the case. The former president also can’t refer to Mr Smith as a “thug” or “deranged”.
Mr Trump told supporters at a rally in Iowa on Monday night: “We’ll appeal it. And we’ll see. But it’s so unconstitutional.”
Watch: Trump comments on gag order at Iowa rally
Tuesday 17 October 2023 09:45 , Oliver O'Connell
Trump: Today, a judge put on a gag order. I’ll be the politician in history that runs with a gag order where I’m not allowed to criticize anyone pic.twitter.com/Es1TBlPeTD
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 16, 2023
